


Today We Fight

by Shadowwolf1



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Kickin' It, Shake It Up! (US TV), Supah Ninjas (TV), Wizards of Waverly Place
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2020-10-04 00:08:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 25,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20461781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowwolf1/pseuds/Shadowwolf1
Summary: Book 1: What do you do when an alien race have been secretly invading your world to the point where they almost have full control? You find another alien, use their technology and be granted the ability to morph to fight back... well that's somewhat a plan, right? Six teenagers must stick together if they are to have a single chance of turning the tide, but could it be to late?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I own nothing.
> 
> This is just a project I've worked on hope you enjoy.

**Prologue **

My name is Jack. I can't tell you much more than that. It'll be too dangerous. There are Controllers everywhere and I do mean everywhere. The Yeerks, alien slugs that take over you mind, could be anyone. They've already enslaved thousands of people, hence the name Controllers, and we can't let them on to us. Our full names, where we live, anything that could give them a clue to us, they can't know. They've done unspeakable acts to those who resist. I should know, in only a few days knowing of them I am already ready to puke at what they've done and I don't want to be, nor do I want my friends or family to be, their next victim.

Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you because my newest friend, in fact he is an alien, a good one, suggested I write a journal to help me deal. He also said this Journal will help provide information and the truth to you, the reader, to learn of the threat and hopefully help ensure the human race's survival.

So do you believe me, or don't you? I don't blame you if you don't. If someone told me what I'm telling you a few days back, I would think the guy was nuts too. None the less, you have to believe me, believe that all of this is going down. This is real, this is happening. The Earth and everything on it is in danger. Lucky for us though, our new friend gave me and my friends the power to morph. Tigers, zebras, bears, goats, we can change into any one of them and more on a whim, as long as we've acquired their DNA.

In exchange for these powers, our new friend asked us for one thing; to get involve with the fight. He wants me and the others to form a resistance and fight off the invaders, saying there's a chance we can win. All of us were wary of this. We are six kids fighting an army, who do you think is going to win?

Still, we all have to make a choice, whether fight a losing battle and just maybe turn the tide or just sit around waiting for the end. I made my choice. Whether I live, die or am enslaved, today I fight! Damn Kim.


	2. Jack

Today started like any other. You know, catching the bus, school hanging in the mall afterwards doing whatever, like going at the arcade, the comic store or just chilling out at the cafeteria. You know, the usual. I would never have guessed that would be my last normal day.

Me and my best friend Mike were currently sitting at a table in the cafeteria. We were in the arcade before the jerk of an owner kicked us out, something about if we have no money we're not welcome.

Almost makes me not want to go back there. Almost. If it weren't for that new game called Immortal Slayer coming to the arcades, I would probably never go back… Who am I kidding, I'd probably go back there in a week or two, okay days. There are just too many awesome games there to give it up.

Anyway, right now me and Mike had been talking about random stuff for half an hour, just eating a few chips with a bottle of coke in hand.

"No way, you can't compare awesome comics like the avengers and the x-men to manga stuff." Mike practically shouted, getting the attention of a few others mallers. "They can't hold a candle to comics." Mike, if you can't tell, is enthusiastic when it comes to comics. If you ever want to know something about a comic just go to him, he'll tell you the story, where you could get the comic and every little meaning it may have.

"I agree X-men and avengers are awesome, but I still prefer mangas like One Piece, Dragonball Z, and Fairy Tail." I told him, getting a glare in return, for what I don't know. It's possible it could be that I like mangas over comics or because I took one of his fries. Who knows? "They all have better plots and better character development." Definitely for liking mangas more, he started to scowl at me.

Luckily though, as he began his tirade of how guys in tights were better than any knuckleheaded hero, Amanda, a girl from school, came over, automatically shutting him up. Wish I had that ability. It's hard to shut him up once we enter the world of comics and action figures.

Amanda is pretty, no doubting that. She has blond hair, blue eyes and what most guys say is a pretty smile. She also had a nice figure which is expected for a cheerleader, but I just don't see what Mike sees. To me she looks pretty average.

Still, Mike stared blankly at her, his eyes and mouth opening as wide as they could. I think drool was pouring out of his mouth. It's always an amusing sight, one of those looks that were priceless too see, making you wish you had your camera. Unfortunately I wasn't that lucky. Nonetheless, it was still funny to look at.

"Hey boys." She greeted us with that smile, the smile that no guy could look away from. "Are you two doing anything tonight?"

"Nah, we're not." I answered for the both of us, not placing too much thought into it. It wasn't anyone's birthday and Gramps' idea of going out was to the garage and doing his usual exercises. I also knew that Mike had nothing either, his father doing a late shifts. But Mike seemed to be at a loss for words to answer.

"That's great! There's a party over at the inferno. everyone from school is invited." This intrigued me, I hadn't been to one of those for a while. Not that there weren't any, I just didn't go. My grades had been at a new low the past few months. Gramps blamed it on all the time I played video games, but I say the teachers just hadn't made learning fun yet. Knowing this, I was going to say no, really I was! But the temptation, it was too much. Hey one party won't hurt right? Yeah, you need a break once in a while.

"Yeah sure, I'll be there." I told her before turning to Mike, waiting for his answer only to see his mouth moving without any audio. "And so will droolly."

"That's great, see you guys there then." Amanda giggled before walking off to the table a few seats behind us.

"Dude, when are you going to tell her how you feel?" I asked, giving Mike a soft wack on the arm, earning me his are-you-insane look. Yes, there is a look, it's the one where his face pales, his eyes go wide open, ready to pop out and looking as if I just told him I'm going you jump of a cliff with a motorcycle and fly. It can also be translated to W.T.F.

"Now's not the best time." He replied, recovering his composer. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his usual comment. He had been saying that since fifth grade.

"That's Amanda, cheerleader, athlete and brain; she's like a self-contained high school, without the pimples or nerds." Mike ranted, passing a glance over at the girl, a small blush appearing on his face as her hair blew slowly behind her from the draft with her smile growing bigger by the second. Add the lights and the angel music and would be like something from those cheesy romance movies. "I have nothing to offer her."

"Come on Mike, your smart, you're a chess wiz for crying out loud, I haven't seen one person who could beat you! You're also good at martial arts and have you seen your reflexes? You're amazing! You caught a grape between your teeth from a distance and didn't squish it. You've got plenty to offer her." I reassured him, counting everything off with my hand which seemed to work as a smile spread across Mike lips. All he needed was one more little push. "Come on man, you're loyal, hardworking and a great friend, if anything she doesn't have anything to offer you."

"Errr… Okay." Mike replied, sounding a bit insecure.

"Okay?" I asked reassuringly.

"Okay." That did it. Mike stood up, confidence was written all over his face as he turned to face Amanda and started to move, with me not to far behind of course.

Being she was two seats away, it didn't long to catch up to the blond, but for Mike it probably felt a lot longer. She was laughing with two others when he stopped a few feet away, one of them being another cheerleader named Kim and the other, Kim's friend, Rocky. Both girls were nice. Kim was another pretty girl most guys dream of. She too has blond hair and blues eyes along with a nice figure; she was also a bit smaller than Amanda.

Kim, a strong, independent girl, rarely ever needed support. She had a good heart and was unnervingly loyal to her friends. She's not one of those girly girls who hang out at the mall all day shopping. In fact, she more the tough girl with some temper issues. One time she drop kicked the school mascot. I'm still unsure why she did that, but it was pretty funny… All and all she's a good friend. I usually hang with her when I'm not with Mike or my other friend Jerry.

Then there's Rocky. I don't know much about her, even though she lives a house down from me. She usually hang around Kim. There's a rare time when she wasn't, but usually that's when I'm around. She too was pretty, but unlike Amanda and Kim, she wasn't a cheerleader. She preferred dancing. If I had to describe her my best words would be smart, responsible and driven. I've noticed in the few times I've been around her that she was usually more cautious, probably more so than most people at school and had a high value for learning. Something most students lack. She too is a good friend, she's usually trying to get Kim out of trouble when her temper issues show and I'm not around to hold her back.

As we stopped by them, Mike's confidence seemed to fade, which was expected. He is shy after all. Add the fact that he's about to tell the girl of his dreams his feelings with the other girls there, well, that wouldn't help much.

"H-Hi." Mike greeted with a small smile and a wave of his hand, a good start.

"Hi again." Amanda answered back sweetly. "Mike right?" Mike was astonished by the question, his blush going a darker red.

"You actually know me?" There goes any form of confidence.

"Yeah you're in all those fantasy and sci-fi clubs aren't you?" Mike nodded his head in response. "I've got to ask, is there many people in that action figure club?"

"If you count the action figures it's huge." Mike joke getting a few smiles from the girls and a little giggle from Amanda. I added a fake chuckle too. It's the only way I knew to give him a boost when he started with those jokes. They were never a good sign.

"So, err… I was wondering, ummm..." Mike stuttered, trying to work out a sentence that just wouldn't come out.

"Yes?" Amanda encouraged. It seemed to work. Mike's shoulder didn't seem as tense as before.

"I was w-wondering… if y-you… know when the party started?" I wanted to face palm. He was _so_ close. Kim and Rocky though were trying to suppress their laughter but were failing ,miserably. "You know… better get there on time than get there too early or too late."

"Right, um yeah you can go there now if you want." Amanda replied causally which was surprising, either she's a great actor and didn't want to embarrass Mike or she is, truly the densest person in the world… Well she is a blond. "There will be a few people there by now and everything should be ready."

"Thanks." Mike replied nervously, gazing off to the side.

"No problem." Amanda responded. "Well I got to go, so I guess I'll see you all there than?" With a nod from the four of us, Amanda smiled and said her goodbyes before rushing out the door.

"And I was pathetic." Mike mumbled, crestfallen. "A total train wreck."

"Come on man, I've seen worst, at least people survived your crash." I reassured him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get her next time."

"Yeah you could always try at the party." Rocky commented. This seems to bring a small smile to his face.

"So, on that note." Kim spoke up, standing up. "Are you guys going to the party now or later? 'Cause if you going there now we could go as a group."

I saw no problem in leaving now so I agreed. That just left Mike who pondered it for a while before agreeing to the idea. We were about to head out when a loud bang echoed through the mall, rebounding off the walls and drawing everyone's attention.

I started to look around for the source of the noise, curiosity getting the best of me. It wasn't long though when my eyes fell on one of those large bins down on the ground with trays scattered across the floor by a boy with a Hispanic appearance. His body was tense, his face pale, snapping his head from down at the mess and to the sides in a panic. It didn't take him long though to react when everyone started to look at him, instantly pointing to the security guard beside him and yelling "He did it!" Before bolting off, leaving the security baffled at what just happen.

He rushed over to the exit, hurrying as fast as he could. He was about to run out the door when he... he's Max? Why doesn't that surprise me?

Max was the new guy at school. He and his family moved here a little more than a month ago. They owned the substation themed restaurant down the road. In that short time of actually being here, he'd already gotten a whole page in the year book, which is saying something. In fact the page all about him used to be called 'The weirdest days', it was just last week that we decided to call it 'The Max'.

From what I knew of him, he's an alright guy, it's just that he can be excitable at times and truly random and loud. He was not the type of guy you could hang around all day with, he usually got bored and ran off anyway, and have a serious conversation with.

Max stopped right in front of us, beaming. He gave us a smile and a wave. "Hey guys, how are ya?"

"Find Max." Kim answered with a straight face. How did she manage that? "What were you doing with the bin?"

"You saw that?" He whispered, leaning forward.

"I think the whole mall saw that." Rocky replied with laugh.

"They definitely heard it." I put in my two cents in getting a laugh from the others.

"Yeah, I was just trying to find some eggs." Max replied simply, as if that was all that needed to be said for us to understand.

"What do you need eggs for?" Rocky asked. "And why did you try to find them in a bin?" Just wait, I bet you this would conclude another moment for 'The Max' page.

"Well, I need eggs to have an egg battle, duh." Max answered. "And people throw out perfectly good eggs all the time." I was right.

"Well if you're not busy with your egg battle," Kim said, both amusement and disgust evident in her voice. "Why don't you come to the party at the Inferno?"

"Kim what are you doing?" I whispered, leaning down to her ear so only she could hear.

"Being a friend." She whispered back in a stern, 'I'm in charge' kind of way. She then smiled again and said sweetly. "What you say Max? It'll be fun."

"A party, really?" He asked, getting a nod from the blond. "Sweet, I always wanted to gate crash a party!"

"How can you gate crash a party that you're invited to" Rocky asked, a good question all of us wanted to know.

"Well what if I wasn't invited."

"But you were." I told him getting his weird, mischief smile in return.

"But if I wasn't?" I was about to say more when Kim beat me to it.

"Okay, you can gate crash the party." Kim replied getting Max to cheer with excitement before leaning closer to me. "Quit it Jack, he can do this all day." I nodded in understanding afterwards. I also started to understand how Kim wasn't fazed by Max. I guessed when you hang around him as much as Kim did, you just stop being surprised at every little thing he does.

"So what'll be the quickest way?" Kim asked turning to me.

"We can cut through the park." I answered, leaving the mall. Unlike me though, the rest stopped in their tracks, even Max. "Unless you're scared." I continued noticing the lack of footsteps behind me. I didn't speak like I was accusing them of being scared, but of course Kim took it as that.

"Me? Scared? Yeah right." Kim responded stepping up to me. Like I said, she loved playing the tough girl, the second you question her bravely she will prove you wrong especially, if you were a boy.

"I don't think that's a good idea guys." Rocky piped up, her face turning white. "There's been a lot of incidents there lately."

That was true, for the past few weeks crime had been up, and gang fights had been more than a regular deal in the park. No one went there anymore at this hour of the day, unless you know, you had a death wish. But there had never once been anything wrong with going to the park until it was dark and being there was still light in the day, it was more than safe.

"I think we should take the longer way around." Mike replied, Rocky agreeing with him whole heartedly.

"Come on guys nothing will happen, not at this time." Kim assured them. "I promise you no one ever got attacked at this time."

"How can you be so sure?" Rocky asked.

"Because me, Kim and Jerry come this way all the time when we leave the mall and never got attacked." This seemed to bring some peace to their minds as they all started to agree. "Besides, me and Kim are second decree black belts, Max has a black belt and Mike is quite good at martial arts too. We'll be fine."

"If you say so." It wasn't the answer I was hoping for but they did agree to come.

So there we were. The five of us heading for a party at the famous Inferno, still normal with the only things to worry about being school, jerks and who liked who. You know, the typical teenage stuff. Those days when we laughed and had fun felt like lifetime ago, like they were different people. That moment was the last moment we'd ever have as normal. And after it, I never stopped wondering what our lives would have been like if we didn't go to the park.

After a while we all entered the park, me, Kim and Max unphased by it while Rocky and Mike started to tense up, both looking over their shoulders once in awhile to ensure no one was sneaking up behind us.

The park was huge, with trees all over the place. It was much more peaceful than the city. It was hard to believe there were gang fights here and the rare drug seller that popped in and out. After a few minutes Mike and Rocky started to relax; they still looked over their shoulders once in a while but were now laughing and telling jokes.

We were halfway out of the park with no trouble at all, there wasn't even another person in sight, but that one was expected. The sun was almost down, a few more minutes and it'd be completely dark, which meant we had to hurry up and get out of here before Rocky and Mike freaked and someone actually did come out of the bushes and butcher us.

We were getting there when Max spotted something. He was looking up at the sky, in his own little world, which Max sometime did, just staring into space. I didn't know what he was thinking, only knowing it was probably weird, messy and chaotic. During those thoughts he suddenly stopped in his place, his eyes narrowing, as if trying to focus onto something up at the darkening sky.

"Max, what's up?" I asked, getting no reply back. Max just stood there gazing at the sky above. This was weird even for him. Normally, Max would have said something by now. He would have at least used up all his minutes on focusing on whatever he was looking at by now and moved onto something else.

I looked up to see what he was looking at, starting to get worried, but all I could see was clouds, the sky and a few stars that started to appear. I passed a glance to the others, who gave me the same concerned, unsure, curious look as I had.

"Max, we have to go." Rocky stated. "It's getting late." Even I was getting worried about being there now. The sky turned black as the park lights turned on, signalling it's night and warning us to get out. I was starting to feel the anxiousness the others were feeling, with every part of me screaming to get out, but Max still showed no signs of moving.

"Max what are you looking at?" Kim finally asked after a while of staring, sounding just as concerned as all of us felt. Max didn't answer at first, focusing purely on whatever he was staring at. He then pointed upwards almost straight over his head saying "look".

We all followed his finger, most reluctantly, scanning the skies for whatever caught Max's attention longer than a second. I'd like to take time to say that was an impressive feet in itself so you can guess what I thought when I finally saw what Max was pointing at.

It was a brilliant blue-white light that was shooting across the sky fast, too fast to be an airplane. I first thought it was a shooting star. I crossed that thought out though a second later realizing it was losing speed with each passing second, along with staying visible than suddenly vanishing.

"What is it?" I heard Kim asked beside me.

"I don't know." I lied completely shocked at what I was seeing. I had a good feeling as to what it was but I just couldn't say it, I couldn't believe it and from the look Kim gave me she was in the same boat.

It wasn't until Max blurted out "It's a spaceship!" did either of us believe it was even possible.

"A spaceship? It can't be a spaceship! It's gotta b-be…" Rocky retorted, distorted over the matter. It was obvious by the why her eyes darted from side to side that she was trying to find a logical answer to this, only to come up with nothing.

We stood like that, gobsmacked as we watched the blue-white light descend, none of us really able to move, until Mike grabbed my and Kim's arms, pushing us back.

"We got to get out of here!" Mike yelled, snapping us back into reality. "It's aiming down here!" I was about to say it wasn't, that we were safe, but after one more glance at the light I wasn't too sure. Whether it was going to crash here or somewhere else was still in question but it would definitely land in the park, that was for sure.

Suddenly all I could hear was the mix of screams and shouts of my friends and the rushing of footsteps. At that moment I wasn't sure if I was moving or not, I only knew I was thinking '_oh FUCK!' _After that, everything else happened too fast for me to remember every little detail.

All that I do remember is feeling my adrenaline pumping into my veins, my body becoming lighter as my heart banged against my chest hard, rapidly. Everything else was a blur; I didn't even feel myself run, moving faster than I ever had before, back in the direction we came from.

The only reasoned we stopped was because we heard a loud crash behind us, followed up by the blue-white light of… of… whatever that was.

By the time that I stopped, we were halfway towards the entrance we came through to enter the park. I was out of breath, but I didn't feel like I was ready to stop, nor did I feel my body ache. It's amazing what happens when you're running only on adrenaline.

After ensuring everyone was alright, I turned back to look where the blue-white light was, startled to see the destruction and fire that followed its collision. The bang was one thing, but with the fire everyone would come. Police, fire-fighters, ambulance, and the media would all come to do there respected jobs in a matter of minutes. Forget Infernos, we could have a party right here.

I could feel as the others started to crowd around me as we looked on at the destruction. I glanced at each one of their faces, each showing the fear, concerns and disbelief I'm sure I showed. I wasn't sure what to do at that moment, stay or run. Telling you the truth, I was leaning more on the run idea.

"What are we going to do?" Max asked the question we were all thinking, but didn't have answer for. It took a moment for someone to answer, which was apparently Mike.

"We should leave." The best idea of the day. We were about to leave when someone else spoke up. Of course we couldn't just leave.

"WHAT?! But we can't." Kim shouted turning to face us, her blue eyes reflecting the same amount of worry her voice implied.

"Kim what's wrong?" Rocky asked alarmed. "Why can't we?"

"What about that?" She asked gesturing to the lights.

"Kim we don't even know what that is." Mike replied.

"It's a spaceship." We all rolled our eyes or stared at Max, at his simple response. Like we didn't already know that.

"Yeah but what inside it? For all we know it could be a threat." Good old Mike, using logic and reasoning to get someone to look his way. "We should let the authorities handle it."

"We can't leave whoever or whatever is inside there alone." Too bad he tried using it on Kim. "The alien in there could be hurt and in need of immediate attention." Kim has always had a good heart and placing others people, or in this case, aliens, health before her own. She never really cared nor listened when reason or logic got in her way of doing so.

"I'm with you!" Max cheered starting to walk off to the ship merrily, only for me and Mike to grab his arm and pull him back a second later.

"No you're not." I told him before placing all of my attention to Kim. "Listen Kim, we can't do anything here. Like Mike said, the alien may not be the 'I come in peace' kind and it'll be better off if we let the authorities handle it. Besides none of us know first aid."

"I know first aid." Kim snapped back.

"That's not the point Kim." Rocky replied, walking up to her. "Kim, look at it this way, we are five kids that are in over our heads here, it's better off if we just run off and pretend we were never here."

"You're kidding me right? There's a possibly injured alien out there that needs our help and you're not going to because you're scared?" I wanted to rebuttal but that's what I was; I was scared, telling you the truth, I just wanted to hide under my bed until it was all over, though I would never admit that. The others seem to feel the same way as me, well other than Max. He'd look all excited one moment, trying to make his way to the ship and downhearted the next when Mike grabs him and pulls him back. That happen three times now in the conversation.

I get what she was getting at though, a part me was agreeing with her. Something may have needed our help. I was hating myself for wanting to run and I probably wouldn't forgive myself if that things died or became the next victim of the government, but the fact is it was _too_ dangerous. We were unsure of what we're dealing with. It's too risky.

Getting no answer, Kim got annoyed, her concerned and worried facial expression vanishing and being replaced by her fierce look, a look that made bigger men than me tremble in fear. This was never a good sign. It meant she was determined, that she had a resolve and she was seeing it through.

"Fine, go then, but there's someone that needs me and I'm going to help them with or without you." With that Kim left rushing into the trees to find the spaceship, while either not hearing or simply ignoring our cries for her to stop. My bet is the latter one.

Seeing Kim's blond hair vanish into the trees and into the darkness, something in me snapped. My body started to tremble out of fear, sweat started to form and drip off my face, my heart beating away again as anxiety started to twist my stomach.

I couldn't let her go to the alien ship, at least not alone. Even if a large part of me told me not to go, that it was dangerous, screaming, '_Don't go! Do you want to die?!', _I knew what I had to do, I had to follow her.

I couldn't help but sigh, a little amused. I should have seen this coming. It's been awhile since she dragged me off on some dangerous adventure, and it was about due for her to up the danger level as well. Last time it was just fighting off a bunch of skaters to protect a defenceless animal. But of course this time she had to make the danger intergalactic. Damn Kim!

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my nerves and chased after her, hoping that I got to Kim before she got to the alien.

I could hear the other cries for me to stop, and Max yelling "SHIP!". I could also feel my legs getting tired and sore but I ignore it all. I was determined to get to Kim. It was getting darker as well, I needed to keep moving.

I dodged tree after tree and leaping over roots which were getting harder to see. The darkness was spreading, acting like a cover for city as the sun fell, making my already poor vision worse. I almost tripped three times because of a root or a small ditch in the ground.

I wanted to stop after the fifth time, my legs were _trumping_ with pain and my chest wasn't much better, along with the heavy reminder of my breathing. It felt like an eternally when I finally saw Kim's golden hair blowing behind her.

I called out to her again with a smile, but she wasn't listening. Ignoring the ever growing pain in my legs, I ran faster, putting everything I had to catch up to her.

I was overjoyed as I started to close the gap even more; I was almost there, almost in arm's reach. That was good because the lights from the ship getting closer. '_I can do it! Just a little bit more'_ I thought reaching out, almost able to grab her arm.

I felt my sweat pure down my face with each step I took as I reached further out to Kim. "KIM!" I yelled evading another tree before grabbing onto her arm and forcing her back towards me, slowing us down to a stop as we entered a clearing.

"Let go of me Jack!" Kim shouted back, snapping around as she fought her way out of my grip. "You can't stop me!"

"Kim think about what you're doing!" I shouted in return. "You don't know what's in there! For all we know it could be the 'kill or enslave all humans' kind. Its ship could also have weap-ons" I wanted to say more, to yell at her idiotic action, but I got distracted… by the giant crumpled remains of a spaceship.

Kim must have wondered what I was looking at because she gave me a look before turning around gasping at what I saw. She took a few steps forward in horror and disbelief and started muttering something but I just couldn't hear her.

I was too lost, to shocked, to stunned. I couldn't move, I couldn't speak, and for a few second I think I wasn't breathing. I stared out to the field seeing the trail in which the spaceship left as it crashed into the Earth, leaving warped metal debris along it.

I follow the trail back up to the spaceship, taking in every detail, hoping all of this was some unbelieve dream which I was about to wake up from. But that would be too easy.

The crumpled spaceship was definitely not what I was expecting a spaceship to be. Obviously it had seen better days, but I figured it'd be UFO-ish, you know, like a flying saucer, or something that came out of Star Wars or Star Trek. It looked nothing like I would imagine.

The ship, if I had to guess, was roughly about the same size of a school bus, if you know, the school bus crashed into a wall or something. It had an egg-shaped pod at the front, most likely the cockpit. Extending from the back of the pod is a long, narrow shaft, with two crooked, stubby wings. At the rear is definitely the most terrifying part of the ship. Connected to the rear was definitely a weapon, a weapon that currently pointing right at us that curved upwards and forward. It kind of remained me of a scorpion tail from the way it curved up and had a sharp tip blade at the end of it.

If it weren't for all the holes in it or the fact that several parts of it was smoking I would really be tempt to run, but then again it was possible it might blow up and being how close we are… "Yeah we should run."

"Jack, we can't leave it behind." Kim replied back quickly recovering back to her fiery self.

"Kim, that thing looks as if it's going to explode." I replied softly, but firmly. "It's not safe here, we should wait for help."

"Jack, it could be too late by then." Great, these are the type of choices I try to evade. Kim was right, I knew it, and there was a chance the alien friendly, but there's still that risk. What to do? What to do?

"Wow! That looks awesome!" My thoughts were ruined as we heard the familiar voice cry out. Both me and Kim forgot our debate and turned our attention behind us, watching as the young Russo ran out with his eyes lightening up as he stared at the ship, his eyes full of eagerness and wonder.

"MAX!" Kim and I screamed, shocked to see him. Guess Mike couldn't hold him any longer. "Where's Mike and Rocky?" I asked quickly, hoping they didn't follow; after all it'd be bad if all of us died that night.

Max was about to answer when, of course, Mike and Rocky came running out after him screaming his name. The three of us watched them as they caught up, coming to a halt and panting heavily. They sound as bad as me.

"Guys we shouldn't be her… WOW! That's the spaceship?" Mike cried, getting lost in wonder as well. Guess that was expected, he was a sci-fi nut after all. He quickly shook it off though as Rocky chimed in.

"He's right. This is too dangerous."

"We can't leave, not yet!" Kim was without question determined, there's no way to get her to back down now. Why couldn't she had found another endangered creature that needed to be protected from a bunch of egocentric, obnoxious skaters again? They'd be so much easier to handle.

"Hey who's that?" Max suddenly shouted pointing away from us and off to the side. We all looked where he was pointing seeing a lone figure staring, no glaring up at the spaceship. He looked to be African-American, like Rocky, but it was hard to tell in the dark. He didn't pay us much mind, even when Max pointed him out, which was probably a good thing. Wonder how long he been standing there for?

Before any of us could act or anything, we were all startled as the ship's light faded away, making it darker than before.

"We should really get going guys." Rocky said, taking a few slow steps back. I nodded my head in response, fully agreeing. I could feel my arm getting Goosebumps, along with the back of my hair rising and a feeling of dread in my stomach as I heard the strange space craft crackle open.

"Right, let's get out of here." I shook Mike's shoulder slightly, bringing him back to reality before grabbing onto both Kim's and Max's arms and slowly pulled them along as I started to walk back the way we came. Thankfully the two were too caught up in the moment to realize that I was pulling them back.

I gave one quick glance to the other guy across from us. I was kind of shocked, not that hadn't moved an inch, but because he was still glaring at the space craft. It was kind of weird. I was going to call out when suddenly the blue-white bright light shined through the darkness again, grabbing my attention again. I could see something in the newly formed door in the spaceship, a silhouette of something. I couldn't see anything at first, there was too much light to make out anything, so I started to squint, focusing on the silhouette to see more clearly but what I saw sent a chill down my body. I still couldn't make out much but from what I could, I could definitely say it wasn't human.

I froze in my spot and I presumed the others did as well as I heard a collection of gasps and a small scream. It wasn't surprising though. The creature that was staring down at us was anything but human. It looked more like a centaur, you know that magical creature that had the upper body of human but a horse's button half. This thing however, had pointed ears and had something sticking out of his head and even though we couldn't make out much more than that, the creature absolutely had fur and a lot of it.

I felt another rush of adrenaline run through my veins as fear overwhelmed my senses. I turned to bolt, to leave this place as fast as possible but my legs just wouldn't move. Too stiff to do anything.

We watched as the creature limped forward clutching onto the door with one hand and raising the other to about head level. We all waited with baited breath, waiting for it to speak, to move again and possibly attack. It was a shock though when I heard a strange voice speaking in my head saying. /_I come in peace. /_ I almost lost it. _'Did the alien really speak in my head?' _I thought. _'Please God tell me this is a dream and I'm about to wake up in my comfrey, ordinary bedroom… or maybe I just lost it. Please God, tell me I didn't lose it.'_

"Did anyone else hear that?" Rocky asked getting no one answer. Everyone was still in shock or amazement in Max's case. Me, I sighed in relief at the question, still stunned the Alien can talk but glad I can knock mental case off the list of possibilities.

Max moved forward excitedly, about to say something back when the alien suddenly collapse onto the floor, shocking everyone, even that angry guy over there. So there it was, possibly humanity's first alien encounter. It was all flashy and terrifying, the alien makes it big dramatic entrance and then… he fell. Talk about anticlimactic.


	3. Jack

We didn't move, frozen in place. None of us knew how to react. One second it was OH MY GOD! We're aren't alone in the universe and then… crap he fell. We all stared intensely at the creature for several seconds before, what a surprise, Kim moved into action, rushing up to the alien's side.

"Oh my God." She said as she knelt down, her face paling with a bit of disgust as she lowered down to the alien. "JACK! I'm going to need your help!" Kim voice was urgent, panicky. I took a step forward, about to run up to when I remembered about the alien.

/I will not harm you. / It spoke again, or is it thought, I'm not sure of the concept. It shocked me though, not the same way as last time, but because his voice was still strong. It sounded like he was in no pain or exhausted, like he was fine but from how he fell and Kim's panic voice it obvious it wasn't.

/Don't be afraid. / I don't know why, but hearing the alien's voice actually compelled me to race up to them, to see if he was okay. I can't explain it. The creature's tone of voice just seem gentle, it was full of fondness. It made me feel as though I'd met him before. But that was impossible, we're literally from two different worlds.

I ran up to them, taking a few curious steps as I drew near, not because of fear or anything but because I got to see him fully. The creature had blue fur covering his entire body. He had four eyes, two of them where I expected them to be, the other two were above his head. They were on were called eye-stalks as I was later told. He had seven fingers on each hand and he appeared to have no mouth, which would explain why he spoke in our heads, though that still gave questions, and his nose was bigger than a humans with three vertical slits. The thing that really grabs your attention though was his tail, or the lack there of.

It was clear that there used to be something there, what it was I didn't know, but it wasn't there anymore. Instead, halfway down was just a bloody mess with the blood trailing down where he laid on the metal slope and obviously where he was in the cockpit of his ship.

I could feel my gut twist and twirl, feeling nauseous staring at the gruesome sight. I force my eyes away from the tail and down at the alien face, trying to keep my lunch as I knelt down.

"Kim, there's nothing we can do." I told her softy, placing a hand on her shoulder for comfort. "The wound is too big to handle on our own."

"Jack we can't just leave him!" She yelled back, whacking my hand away and glaring up at me before turning her head back to the alien, her gaze softening as tears started to build. It was understandable, it's hard to see something, anything die, especially if this is the first time you saw it.

I placed my hand on her shoulder again and to my surprise she fell right into me, burying her face into my chest, unable to look anymore. Understanding I started to rub her back gently while turning to look down at the alien who was looking back with its pale green eyes.

"I'm sorry."

/There's no reason for apologies./ The alien replied shaking its head, its voice sounding weaker than before. /If any I should apologise to you for.../ Before he could say anymore he fell unconscious, his head dropping to the ground.

"So what are we going to do?" I jumped hearing Max's voice behind me. I looked around to see him, Rocky, Mike and the other guy surrounding us and the alien. Most sharing the same disgust and sadness as I felt.

"I don't know Max." I replied. I was still finding it hard to believe. Then was when things got worse. We all jumped once we heard the sirens of police cars, the ambulance and fire trucks.

"I know what we should do, we should leave!" Rocky answered, pointing off back the way.

"We can't just leave him here!" Kim said backing away from me and leaning over the alien. "He'll be taken and experimented on."

"Kim he's dead, there's nothing we can do for him." Mike spoke up this time, his eyes darting back and forth from us to the sirens off in the distance.

"He's still alive." The other guy replied his voice deep, and firm. It was right to say he managed to keep his head though all this. It makes you question how though, being an alien did just crash land in front of him and now was getting closer to death's door with each second. Then again I wasn't really up for questioning, I was glad there was someone there that wasn't insane or panicking. It was more comforting knowing someone still had their head.

"Jack we can't leave him." Kim said looking up to me with her blue eyes, staring wishfully at me. I looked down at the alien and then to everyone. Everyone eyes were focusing on me, even the new guy. I just groaned, it's always up to me to make the hard decisions.

"Mike, Max, Kim…" I said looking at each one before stopping to stare at the new guy, unsure. "New guy, help me pick this guy up and we'll get him out of the forest. Rocky keep watched out for anyone around. Let's go People!"

It took a moment but everyone did as I said. I was really surprise that the new guy helped out as well. Kim and Max went on either side of it and wrapped an alien arm around their shoulders, struggling to slightly lift him off the ground with a grunt. Meanwhile me, Mike got behind him and started to slowly pick him off the ground by grabbing a side each and pushing him along and the new guy got behind and just pushed from the rear.

It was difficult and I'd most likely have back pains after this but we were slowly moving him away from the ship, inching forward every few seconds.

"Man this guy weighs a ton!" I heard Mike cry on the other side, groaning with each word. Understandable, we were all like that and he wasn't really the body building type. He never actually lifted anything close to this alien's weight.

"I know right, someone should tell him to lay off the sweets." Max yelled back between grunts, some amusement still lingering in his voice. I could see the small smile spreading across his features from my place behind him.

"Max he's an alien with no mouth," Kim commented irritably beside him as she struggle to hold the alien up. "I don't think he's one to have sweets."

"Guys stop bickering and put your backs into it!" I shouted, getting annoyed. It was already a struggle to move the alien, I didn't need any more annoyances of any kind to pop up, particularly when a cop, fire fighter, paramedic or the media could show up any moment. It was clear that one of them were already here making their way through the park.

We went through the woods, best way to get an alien out with no one noticing, trying to avoid trees and roots as much as possible as Rocky went on ahead of us, ensuring no one was going to find us. It's an understatement to say it was difficult trying to get an alien out of the woods unnoticed. Add its weight, the terrain we were in and the fact anyone could have spotted us at anytime it was amazing we were still undetected.

We didn't get too far from the ship before our first close encounter. Rocky came running back as quietly as possible, waving her hands down. None of us needed to ask what that meant; we lowered the extra-terrestrial being into a few bushes, kneeling down to hide with him. It was then that we started to hear voices along with footsteps repeatedly hitting the ground, heading for the spaceship.

We heard them get closer and closer, they were almost on top of us. I had to bite my tongue and cool my head before having a panic attack, feeling sweat beads fall down my face in anxiousness. The others weren't any better, most were biting their nails or lips. Rocky was even shaking.

The footsteps reached us; they were only a few metres away. It sounded like they were going to walk through, we were safe, but suddenly the footsteps stopped. Did they see us? Were we caught? My questions were soon answered as the buzzing sounds of static echo through the dark.

"Sir! There's no one on the perimeter." A stern, feminie voice said through the speaker. We couldn't hear too clearly because of all the static. "We can go on with the mission." Me, Kim, Mike, Rocky and Max shared a look. With that one look I knew we were all think the same thing… 'The Government found out!'

Gathering my courage, I slowly raised my head just above the bushes, squinting my eyes to see three figures standing side by side. I took a quick glance at each one, taken back a second later seeing they weren't dressed in suits or even military outfits before ducking my head a second later as one of the three turned to face in my direction.

Being there was no footsteps coming closer or any sound other than the usual insect noises it was safe to say the person didn't notice me, which was great. It'd be bad if we were caught at the moment. The good news though, unless they were undercover they weren't government officials. They were two police offers and one fire fighter, not that that made it easier but it still better than suddenly disappearing without a trace because of the alien we were smuggling into the world.

"Good, ensure no one comes in." The man replied back, his voice cold and devoid of emotion, pressing a button on the radio. It was strange, the man's voice remained me of someone, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. Mike was the same, he was staring down at the ground intensely trying to remember. I thought about for several more seconds trying to come up with a face but with no luck. "Sir, the area is clear, you are a go."

"Very good, leave the area at once." A darker, more irrigated voice replied. The man simply replied "Yes Sir!" And pressed another button.

"Everyone must evacuate the blast zone now." The man ordered, getting multiply replies before turning off the radio and ordering the two people with him back. The three of them rushed back the way they came while me and the others sat in silence for a second.

My mind raced with what I just heard, a new feeling of dread overcoming my senses as I started hoping that I didn't hear what I think I heard.

"Did he just say BLAST ZONE?" Rocky whisper shouted so only we could hear, breaking the silence. Max answered her a moment later, which was good because I think all of us needed someone to confirm what we heard. Not that it made us feel any better.

"We need to leave now!" Adrenaline back, I picked up the alien with all my might, the others doing the same, not needing to hear my order. We moved as fast as we could while carrying the alien, Rocky even came back with me, the mystery guy and Mike and started to push it along, trying to get out of the blast zone.

Everything blurred again as we hurried through the trees trying to create as much distance as we could. There was no way we wanted to hang around and possibly get blasted to smithereens, even though knowing there was little chance of getting out.

There was a huge chance we wouldn't make it and all of us knew it, it was just that… no one mention it. Probably isn't the best thing to talk about…, or think about, especially when you're running for your life. It will only hinder your survival.

Only a mix of rapid, heavy breathing could be heard, no other sound came close to the breathing of six tired teenagers. Well… other than the roar of a few engines echoing above us, that ended up being the only thing we could hear.

The engine was so loud we all instantly looked up while still moving, lucky none of us tripped over a root or tree, and stared up a the darken sky. At first I saw nothing, naught, zilch. That was strange being how close the engine sounded, but then, as quickly as a jet or possibly faster, two bizarre aircrafts flew by.

At first I thought they were just jets from the military yet the small glance I got prove that theory wrong. They looked like nothing from this world. They didn't even look like the ship we retrieve the centaur-like creature from. They were different in shape.

"They're going to the ship!" Max yelled, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked from the brunette back to the ship. He was right; they were heading to the ship. None of us could say anything more though, for a second later.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

They were attacking the ship. Being that we were still close we could see the two ships fly back and forth, blue lasers raining down on the Centaur-like creature's ship. The ship was being blown to bits. Some chunks off it were completely destroyed after the blow while other flew off in all directions. We were like the latter one; we were all blown off our feet and thrown off into the distance by a shockwave from the blasts. Lucky too. If we stayed where we were, we would have been dead in a matter of seconds.

Fire spread in all directions either because of the laser fire or because of the flying chunks of the ship landed by a bush or a tree, igniting it. Thanks to the blast and fire, a dust cloud and thick, black smoke started to form, covering the area in thick blanket, snuffing out the oxygen making it hard for us to breathe or see.

Screams of fear and panic mixed together as the others rose to their feet, eyes darting around and seeing the fire circle around us. We didn't have much time. If we didn't move we'd be burned alive. Which was a problem; everyone had a different response to the chaos.

Either they were having a panic attack, running around like a chicken with its head cut off or they were just sitting on the ground staring at the fire, in terror. The alien was down, apparently hitting a tree thanks to the shockwave, but it seemed that the blow stirred him from his sleep. There was some movement with his limbs.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ships continued their assault, startling me back into reality. Acting fast, I shot up sprinting off to the down alien. "COME ON GUYS!" I yelled, grabbing Max and Rocky as I went past them, only stopping once I was in front of the Alien. Dropping to my knees I quickly helped him up again, everyone doing the same a moment later, and hurried off through the park.

Explosions could still be heard behind us, along with the shockwave still being felt against our backs, pushing forward. We put everything we had to escape, but even now, with some help of the shockwaves, we were still nowhere near out of the park. We still weren't that far away from the ship.

BOOOOOMMMM!

The earth shook after that one, feeling like an Earthquake as the Centaur creature's ship exploded with that last blast. Chunks of it flew everywhere. We were lucky we weren't hit as parts of it fell beside us. One piece was so close that it almost struck the alien, landing with a big thump a few steps away in front of us.

The object left a small dent in the ground from the impact. It was glowing, which I first thought was because it was hot. It was a strange thing though… it was glowing blue. Looking down, it looked like a box at first, before realising it didn't have a latch and it was in shape of a cube. All of us gave a glance to one another in wonder, none of us knowing what to do.

"We should go around it." Mike spoke on the other side of the alien from me. "It could be dangerous."

"How can it be dangerous? It's a glowing cube." Max replied leaning over to get a better look at the device. "Besides the alien might want it." Max took only a step before I grabbed forcing him still.

"Max it could be radioactive, or something else that's lethal to humans or to this guy." Rocky replied integrating to the alien.

"If it was lethal to him why would he have it on his ship?" Max asked back.

"Jack?"

"I got it." I answered hitting the brunette on the back of the head, getting an "ouch" in reply.

"They could use something to cover it to protect them in their ship." Rocky answered. "Now let's get out here before we are possibly poisoned mo…"

/NO DON'T!/ The alien suddenly yelled, shocking us out our skins as we started to move away, his tone of voice full of terror and panic. /You can't leave that here… please, it won't harm you…/ He said more dazed than panic but still able to place some urgency in his voice.

Doing as he said Max quickly grabbed it, staring at it in astonishment and wonder. Meanwhile, the alien slowly placed his feet, previously having been dragging along, firmly on the ground and gradually stabilised himself on all four, leaning on Kim for a little support.

"What are you doing?" Kim asked, even though it was quite obvious.

/We'll move faster if you don't have to carry me…/ He said before collapsing for a short second.

"You can't, not in your condition." The African guy replied. "If you move you'll lose your blood quicker."

"He's right." Mike agreed. "In fact it's amazing you still alive with all the blood you lost already." This was true, we did leave a huge blood trail behind us.

/I do not matter. / The alien answered looking at each one of us with his four eyes. /You must leave and take that with you. / The alien stated, pointing at the cube in Max's hand. /They cannot get their hands on it. / They? They who? Is what I wanted to ask but knew we had no time.

Off in the distance was definitely the sound of water, meaning fire fighters were putting out the fire that the ships had created. This was a good and a bad thing. We might not die in agony of fire but we'd be caught by people with an alien.

"We need to go!" I said urgently replacing Max at front and placing one of the alien arms around me to help support him. "Are you sure you can walk." The alien answered with a yes and nod of his head. That was more than enough for me.

"But what about him we can't let him walk." Kim commented on the other side. "He won't make it."

"If we raised his tail, it'll slow down his blood lost." That was a great idea, I was a little surprised though, being the answer came from Max of all people.

"That won't stop the blood." Rocky pointed out.

"Yeah, but it'll slow it down." Max replied, not bothering to look at the group. His attention was staying on the cube, fiddling around with it in his hands.

"We don't have time for this, we need to move!" Mike said taking up Kim's place on the alien's other side.

"He's right." I agreed, nodding my head as me, Mike and the alien started to move. "Glaring guy raise his tail, like Max said, it'll slow down his blood a bit. Kim, Rocky check ahead for anyone, let's go people." Everyone did as I said and in a matter of seconds we started to walk again, this time moving faster than before. Not by much, but it was still better.

/Leave me behind, you are better off without me./ I could feel the alien's gaze on me, but I decided to ignore it as we all moved on.

"Sorry, can't. Not in me to leave someone in pain behind." Was my simple answer. The alien didn't responded, continuing to trudge on like the rest of us as we drew closer to where the fire would soon meet, trapping us.

Other than the screeching of wild animals, the crackling fire behind us and our groans and heavy breathing, the journey was quiet. It was a little bit easier to move now that the alien was walking but the fire was still catching up to us.

We were out of the area where the fire was surrounding us when I noticed the alien staring at me. /Why are you doing this? / I was taken off guard by that question. The savee usually doesn't ask that question when you're saving them.

"Because it's the right thing to do." I responded, looking ahead of us once and awhile to ensure there was nothing hidden on the ground we may trip on or no tree in our way.

/You should leave me. I'm only holding you back./ The alien replied. Getting no response from me or anyone he continued. /I have little time left.You're effort will be all for nothing./

"We're not going to let you be incinerated!" I yelled back, face to face. "Now move it!" I turned back away to watch in front of us, not failing to notice the weird looks Mike and Max gave me.

Picking up more speed we had managed to move away from the fire at a safer distance, thinking we were somewhat in the clear, when Kim and Rocky came running back. Both of them breathing heavily as they slowed down to a halt, both leaning over, hands on legs for support to regain their breath.

"Fire… fighters… on their… way." Rocky said between breaths. Just what we needed, more problems.

"There's a shed not too far from here." Kim continued, speaking a bit better than Rocky while pointing off to the side. "It shouldn't take us long if we hurry." As I nodded in response, the girls got on either side and started to support the alien while directing us to the shed.

Like they said it wasn't too far. It was a small metal shed, just big enough to hold us and maybe two extra people. We managed to sneak in just as we heard a few people rushed by yelling "Put out the fire before it spreads anymore" while a man yelled out directions to the other people with him.

"How long do you think we can hide here?" Rocky asked pacing around the room, her eyes darting from side to side as sweat flow down her face.

"For a while." Mike answered as calmly as possible though his face betrayed him. He looked very trouble and since he was staring at the alien tail or what left of it, his face had a shade of green.

"Great! We're all crowded in a small shed, an alien is bleeding to death, and there are people all around us that could walk in and spot us at any moment and sentence us to a possible future in prison for abducting an alien."

"At least we don't have to worry about the fire." Max smiled from his place beside the alien. He was right though, you could hear torrent of water flowing out of a high pressure hose behind the wooden walls with footsteps leading from them and towards the ship. The fire around should be extinguish soon.

"Yeah, now all we have to do is worry about the life time imprisonment." Rocky cried. "I'm too young to go to prison! I never did anything wrong before…!"

"I don't know, you did bring that Cece girl into our lives." Kim commented, giving her friend in innocent smile as Rocky turned a glare to her.

"Yeah let's just keep talking louder and louder, they surely won't find us then." Everyone's attention turned to the glare boy, glares being shot his way, mostly from the Rocky. I gave him a quick one before agreeing he was right. Mike and Kim nodded or tilted their heads, respectfully, in agreement.

It was silent after that, the only nose coming from outside. Max was still fiddling around with the cube in his hands, lost in his own little world. Rocky stopped walking around and resorted to crawling up in a ball and rocking herself. Mike stood in place, once and a while shifting his head closer to the wall to hear what was going on. Then there was me and the new Guy leaning against the wall waiting.

Kim was the only one paying much mind to the alien. She helped him lay down in the cramped shed and held his tail up, even though she wanted to gag out her lunch at the sight. The alien blood was still pouring out; it was amazing the guy was still alive let alone awake. The guy didn't have long to live.

"My name Kim by the way, can I ask for yours?" Kim asked softly. The alien picked his head up, his four eyes trying to focus on Kim but finding it difficult to do so.

/M-my name is… Mertil-I-scar-E-Elmand./ He replied his voice sound more tired and hoarse. /I am a being calling an An-Anda-da…/

"He's an Andalite." Everyone snapped their heads around, even Mert-al-Mertil-Iscar...I'm just going to call him Mertil, all eyeing the new guy in question though Mertil was glaring suspiciously at him. I presumed anyway. He was on death's door, all drowsy, it's hard to tell.

/How do you know that?/ Mertil asked, body tensing, his voice uneasy as he started to pick himself off the ground, aided by Kim.

"It's a long story." He replied, standing calmly even with Mertil now towering over him. "You shouldn't be up; you'll lose a lot more blood and you don't have much to waste."

"He's right." Kim said running in between the two. "If we don't do anything soon you'll die."

"What can we do?" Mike asked. "We don't have any of the equipment to help him. Even if we did none of us know what to do." He raises a good point. How were we going to help him? No tools no idea how to do the surgery and it's not like we can drop him off at some hospital and say he needs your help. He'll be on the first flight to Area 51.

/The operation is quite easy to perform… I can easily talk you through it. You just need to get rid part of my tail bone and seal the flab of skin together./ Mertil said falling to the ground again.

"But it'll be painful." Kim cried, kneeling down to Mertil. "And we don't even have the tools." At that moment the new guy searched his pockets pulling out…. A small, fancy, torch? That was unexpected, particularly when Mertil jolted from his place screaming /CONTROLLER!/ We all simultaneously covered our ears, though being that the voice was in our heads that wouldn't have done much.

"If I was a controller you would already be dead or at least caught." He said matter-factly, growling at the name. "And these fives would be waiting for hell by now." Though new guy was using reason for his case, reason that was lost on of us, Mertil didn't heel. He continued to look suspicious at the guy.

"Dude where can I get one of those?" Max asked breaking the silence as he snatch the torch out the new guy hands examining it before asking the question on every mind nonchalantly. Obviously he's not really as interested in the term as the torch. "And what's a Controller?"

"A story told best away from here." The guy answered, ignoring Max earlier question, his stare never leaving Mertil who still didn't trust the guy. "You will die if we don't fix you up now and this is the only device we have that can do the job."

"What!" Rocky shouted getting her mouth cover not even a second later by Mike. "How can a torch help in this situation?"

"The torch is actually called a Dracon beam, which destroys things at the particle level." The boy replied, continuing a moment later but more to the alien. "Though painful, it is the only thing that we have that will help him."

"But how do we do the surgery?" Kim asked, getting blank looks from everyone else.

After a few more minutes of scowling Mertil reluctantly approved. /Fine. I can walk you through it, but we'll need someone with steady hands./

Other than Max who sprang his hand up the second Mertil finished, which everyone, including Mertil, yelled no, no one else took on the responsibility. Can you blame us though, using a device that will harm someone when one little stuff up could kill him, then add to the fact no one really wanted to look at bloody mess of his tail. I doubted many people could do that without puking. Besides we're just kids!

"I-I'll d-do it" Rocky said unsure, getting a sigh of relief from the rest of us as our support. It was a good thing she did volunteer I didn't think no else would, and out of all of us she is the best one for the job. According to Kim she went to a medical camp over the summer.

Rocky took the device that was handed to her nervously, nodding her head as the new guy told her not to change the setting. Body trembling, she made her way to the back of the alien slowly, kneeling down at a slower pace to Mertil's tail, her face getting greener by the second. A look of pure disgust spread across her figures the second she got a good look at the alien end. It looked as if she puked a little in her mouth from the revolted look she gave a second later.

"You can do it Rocky." I encouraged moving closing her to her, placing a hand on her back for support.

"He's right Rocky, you got this." Kim reassured, giving her a comforting smile. Rocky paused for a second, giving us her own smile, and though it was fake and her body still shaking, she seemed a little better. Okay she looked the same, but she was doing it.

She raised her hand with the torch…, I mean Dracon beam, nodding her head, either to try and comfort herself or because Mertil was coaching her, telepathy talking to her individually. Not that I was complaining, I had to watch it, I didn't want to hear it too.

She was about to start the processor, her hand stop shaking as she lowered the Dracon beam to the tail, but unfortunately she didn't had the stomach for it. Just as she was about to turned the device on Rocky threw her head to the side away from me, thank god, puking.

You could actually feel the disappointment in the room, not because Rocky couldn't go through with the procedure, but because there was a chance we'd have to do it.

"Who's going to do it now?" Max asked as I rubbed Rocky back as she spilled her gut. It was a good question. I had stable hands but I don't take instructions to well. Kim was too shaken up for the job. She could probably do the job without puking but she couldn't harm him, especially when he's already in intense pain as it is. Max… No way he could do it, the alien would probably be dead and that's without the blood lost from his tail. Being Mertil has suspicions on the other guy, it'd be bad if he did it, whatever a Controller is, Mertil was sure that if he was one he'd kill him. That just leaves Mike… MIKE!

my eyes automatically darted for him at the realization, forcing him to jump at the sudden attention. Mike had stable hands and out of all of us was the one that had the most control over his body. He wasn't shaking. He could work under pressure, can follow instructions to the letter, and though he was a bit green as well he was our best choice.

Mike seemed to catch on, which shouldn't be too hard in this situation, why else would I snap my head to him? He started to shake his repeating. "No, no, no" several times, getting louder and louder. If Max hadn't banged Mike over the head, the people outside would defiantly would have found us.

"You're the best man for the job Mike." I said walking to him after ensuring Rocky was good and taking the device away from her.

"What about you?" Mike shot back in a panic.

"I'm not good following instructions." I replied truthfully, getting a nod from Kim in response to back my claim. He started to rant on why I was a better choice than he was, saying I was cool under pressure, that I had hands to do it, but in the end, he ended up stopping, unable to come up more than that.

"Listen Mike, you don't have to do this." I replied stepping up to him placing a hand on his shoulder. "It's your choice, only you can decide whether or not you can do this. So the question is, can you do it or can't you?"

Mike seemed to debate this, opening and reclosing his mouth every few seconds, trying to come up with something. It took a minute or two but he eventually hung his head in defeat, taking the device out of my hands and made his way to the alien.

Just like Rocky, his face went to a bright shade of green staring at the tail, but he managed to hold back the hurl that was definitely coming up. Like before, Mertil gave the instructions to only Mike. With a nod and a few seconds of hesitant Mike began, to everyone's discomfort.

The surgery was long, gruesome and agonizing, and that was just for us who couldn't peel our eyes away. I couldn't imagine how Mertil felt. The surgery started off good, meaning the second Mike turned on the torc… Dracon beam and hit its mark but everything afterwards well… everything I would say would be an understatement.

First off, we forgot to bind Mertil to something, though I don't what to, with his strength and wild actions he could easy tear whatever it was off. It's amazing how strong and full of life you can get when you in a tense pain. It can make even a dead person shoot out of the grave.

So after trying to ensure no one got a kick to the head, or anywhere else, we all forced Mertil back to the ground by me, Kim, Max and the new guy jumping on his back, doing a pile up. An experience I did not want to relive. It took a few minutes for him to fall back down and between his bull like antics and me being at the bottom well let's just say I'm going to feel that for a week. Thankfully he was still weak and drowsy, if not I don't think I would have made it.

Rocky continued to puke in a corner away from everyone else, while, just like all of us, trying to look away from the horrific sight in front her, but just not being able to. It was just one of those things you can't stop staring at, no matter how much you want to.

Mike, though in the worst place possible, was doing much better than the rest of us. Granted he almost passed out once or twice, he was keeping a straight head on his shoulders and did everything on the mark. He got rid of part of the bone and muscles around the wound and even managed to cut tiny pieces of skin with the Dracon beam to merge them together and close the wound. All and all, it was successful though I can't help but wonder how no one heard any of this. Mertil kicked the shed and the few pieces of the equipment there, making a loud bang afterwards, which reminded me, WE HAD TO MOVE!

I didn't want to pay for the destroyed shelves, garden equipment or motors or the impressive dent in the walls. Let's not forget the cleaning bill of getting rid of all this blood and puke everywhere. This goes beyond my allowance, I'd have to ask Gramps for a year's worth in advance just to pay for half.

"Great job Mike." I said patting him on the back getting a jolt in response, before turning my eyes on Mertil. He was quivering in pain, not that I blame him. The new guy told me how much pain the Dracon beam can give at its lowest setting and anyone would quiver after that especially, when it was aimed at you expose bone and muscles. "Hey Mertil, think you can move?" I asked delicately, getting a glare from Kim

"Jack, he needs some time!" It was fair point, a point I wished wasn't true. With all the noise, surely someone would have heard it even with the fire outside, we had to move.

"Time is something we don't have." The African-American teenager replied, getting agreement from the rest of the males' population.

/The..y are… right./ Mertil said in a hoarse voice. /We… wasted… enough time… here. I-I can mo-ve but I'll need… some help./

"Right." I replied before getting everyone back up and running. In a matter of second we were walking outside again, Max and Kim beside the alien, acting as his leaning post and me and New Guy just behind those two, helping him keep balance.

Mike and Rocky went ahead. I thought those two needed a small break away from the alien, scouting out a path with no people. They came back pointing off in different directions often leading us to the safest paths. In that little trip we were only nearly caught twice, once when someone was running from the way we came and heading to the park gate and the second time when a few authority figures scouted the area. They were obviously looking for something, or someone and I wasn't in the mood to find out what, especially if they're with those guys who blasted the ship.

Those guys, the two police offers and fireman, those three plagued my thoughts for the rest of our walk out of the park. I had no time beforehand to think of the three, being we had to hide, run for our lives and save a bleeding to death alien. You try thinking of anything else in that situation!

I kept on asking myself who were they? They weren't shocked at all by the alien spaceship, not even in the slightest. It was just weird. My mind kept on going back to undercover government officials who were covering up the ship, but that was unlikely in many ways. One, this wasn't a TV show, or movie, I would be aware if it was, and two was that they came too quickly and it'd be one hell of a coincidence for them to be there beforehand. They couldn't have been... Could they?

I shook my head at those thoughts, there was no way they were government officials. I was just looking in too deep. There had to be another reason. Some people aren't fazed by much right? As for the blowing up part well… I got nothing, that was just weird.

"YES! WE'RE O…!" Rocky shouted to heavens only for her mouth to be covered by Mike's hand again as the rest of us got Mertil into the shadows, each one of us sighing in relief.

"What now?" Mike asked interrupting the split second of peace, earning a glare from the rest of us.

"That's easy, we'll…we'll…" I started off confidently before deflating, reality hitting hard as I blinked several times in thought before realizing we had no destination in mind, no plans after we got Mertil out of the park.

"We'll what?" Glaring guy asked sounding irritated with his arm cross against his chest while glaring at me.

"I have no idea." I simply put it, groans of annoyance mixing together afterwards. "Hey I got us out of the park, it someone else's turn to come up with something."

"We can take him to my place." Max replied cheerfully.

"Thanks for the offer Max but your place on the other side of town." Kim responded. This dispirited the boy, Max automatically hung head pouting in disappointment. "The same goes for me."

"I live in an apartment building; no way can I hide him at my place." Rocky said. I'm pretty sure she was glad about that fact if her small smile had to say anything.

"No way I can, Gramps likes to ensure I'm not up to anything." I answered. I close my eyes in thought, running every possible way how to hide Mertil but drawing a blank with every thought I tried. It's not like someone has a big enough house to keep an alien a secret and have a family member who's out most of the time. Eeerrr! This was getting harder with each second! Is the party still an opinion?

"Neither can I, my dad will notice something like him." New guy replied… I really have to ask for that guy's name, along with entire list of questions... Back on topic, where can we hide Mertil…?

At that thought, my eyes landed curiously on Mike. He seemed a bit tense, his eyes shifting, contemplating something. This wasn't really strange, he usually had that face when it comes to important matters, though the sweat that started to bead down his face even though it's about 10 degrees was something new.

I raised an eyebrow, which he seemed to sense, as a second later he turned my way, jolting up right after noticing the look on my face. He gave me his fake, somewhat innocent smile. I smiled too, I knew him too well.

"Do you have an idea Mike?" I asked gaining everyone attention.

"What! No, I don't have an ide…" That all he said before noticing my eyebrow rise higher as I crossed my arms in front of my chest. Sighing in defeat he said. "Yeah, he can come over at my place."

"Really what about your dad?" I asked a little shocked Mike volunteered.

"He's at work right now, so if we can sneak him in before he comes back we can hide him under my bed." That had mix of responses, most of them having a hint of a dumbfounded and are you crazy looks. Even Max turned his head gob smack.

"It official, Mike lost his mind." Kim commented, there was a hint of concern in her voice. Max and Rocky nodded in agreement and New Guy uncrossed his arms staring at Mike like he had just grown two heads. I actually had the urge to call the guys in white for one of their special jackets.

"Trust me." Mike said more to me than anyone else, staring right at me. I really wanted to, but I kind of had to agree with Kim. We had been though a lot in one evening, it's perfectly reasonable if someone lost their mind. I was going to say sorry and start thinking of another way but I instantly stopped the second I saw it, the conviction in Mike eyes. They were determine and serious, his usually shy persona having disappeared and was replaced by this more calm, collected person.

"Okay." Everyone gasped at what I said. Some even question my sanity, but I knew this was the right thing to do. Mike never got like this unless he was fully serious and usually when I didn't listen to this side of him I usually wind up in trouble. More trouble than this. If Mike believed he could hide him than there's a good chance he could. Sure, hiding under his bed is completely insane but we had to give it a try. Hey what could we lose at this moment anyway?

"Okay, how are we going to get over there without being caught? I know Empire City is known for freaks, but Mertil is still putting it a bit out there." I asked, taking control of the situation as everyone started to argue.

"We can steal that van." Max pointed out, pointing to the van a few metres away.

"Yeah and then what do we do? None of us know how to rig a car." Kim asked.

"Yeah we do, Mike you can do it right?" I asked turning my head back to him.

"Ahh…Yeah." He replied, less confident than he was two seconds ago but being he is the son of a cop this would be weird for him to steal a car.

"Alright then." Kim responded moving over to Mertil to help him while me, Max and Mike went to rig the van.

"Wait you guys aren't serious are you?" Rocky strict voice could be heard behind us. We all whipped our heads over, giving her a questionable look which she returned, eyeing every one of us. After a minute of staring into our blank faces Rocky face paled looking at each of us, panic stricken, her eyes and mouth going wide. "You're kidding!" Again with no responds Rocky rammed her palm into her face in either anger, annoyance or disbelief. I wasn't too sure which one, maybe it was all the above. "Yeah why not , why don't we just add to the list of crimes we've done today!"

"Well, we did kidnap an alien who doesn't so much as have a passport, How much more trouble can we get into?" I asked back shrugging at the thought.

"You know I don't think that's a crime." Max replied thoughtfully, staring up at the darkened, star lit sky. "I never heard the law that said you aren't allowed to hide an alien. And technically he was the one that smashed the shed and I'm pretty sure he has Diplomatic Immunity, being that he's not from Earth."

"He has a point." Kim responded in a more thoughtful manner. "Though I don't think they give Diplomatic Immunity to people who sneak into the country." She added dryly.

"We're NOT stealing the van!" Rocky shouted sternly, her hands planted firmly on her hips like a mother scolding her child. She look so imitating than, making you want to tremble but I just couldn't. Instead I chuckle as she sounded a lot like my history teacher. Just add some grey to hair a few wrinkles and a mole beneath her nose and she could pass off as her.

"And what's your plan on hiding the alien?" New Guy asked with a raise eyebrow.

"Our Jackets!" This time she had the mix reactions of shock, disbelief and are-you-okay-in-the-head looks that we gave Mike not two minutes ago. It greats when it's not pointed at you. "Come on guys, if we place our jackets over his head we can pass him as a horse. It's like you said, Empire City is the place for freaks so no one would notice a couple of kids taking their horse out for a night walk." Rocky said excitedly taking off her pink jacket. Scary thing is… that's true. This town really does need to get looked at. Still though we all gave her a blank look.

"Come on guys!" Rocky replied placing her jacket over Mertil head. "It's this, or stealing."

"We weren't actually going to steal." Max replied amusingly. "It's more like secret borrowing."

"GUYS!" Rocky said strictly. I sighed in defeat and took my blue Jacket off, passing it to Rocky, who placed it on Mertil's back.

"This ain't going to work you know." I responded, getting a glare from the dancer. "No one is stupid enough to think this is a horse."

"Yes they will, it's dark, they'll never know, especially if...Mertil lean over." Rocky replied, directing the last part to Mertil. In response, Mertil kicked the ground twice, which I guess was because of displeasure and anger before leaning over. Not that it mattered, he didn't play a very convincing horse. He didn't look right, even when leaning down, and there still was the tail problem. Though Rocky was either blind or in denial that her plan was working. Or maybe she forced herself to act like it was working so we wouldn't steal the van?

After placing most of our jackets on Mertil we started our walk to Mike's place. Thank God it was only a couple of blocks away. We did get a few stares, after all we were walking a 'horse' at night, when we should at least be riding it, but we can't do that, Mertil could barely move at all by himself, so we were thankful that most people pass it off as nothing. Some people did look at us and one kid mentioned to his father that there was something wrong with 'that horse's tail', but thankfully no one pressed on it.

It felt like forever once we reached Mike's house. I actually deeply breathed out the air I apparently held onto for only God knows how long. Mike quickly opened the door for us so we could get out of public eyes. Hopefully no one in the neighborhood noticed us smuggling a 'horse' into his house, otherwise we were boned.

After that came the real tricky part, getting Mertil upstairs. It took a lot of upper body strength to move Mertil up the flight of stairs in his injured form. Sadly, we only had me, Mike and Max, the girls and New Guy had gone up the stairs before us, helping keep Mertil balance.

Once we'd done the impossible, we walked into Mike's room. It was fairly big with a giant bed, a desk, cupboards and a few shelves with, you guessed it, action figures decorating the entire room. Now this brings us the question that everyone had on their mind… How the hell was Mertil going to live under Mike's bed? It was sealed to the floor!

"So Mike, what's the plan, you got some magic shrinking powder?" Rocky asked, the amusement evident in her voice. "Is your plan to hide him in some termite hole?"

"He has magic powder? That's so COOL!" Max shouted cheerfully. In an instant he was at Mike's side staring excitedly with his hands out. "Can I have some? I always wanted to be small."

"I don't have any of that." Mike responded, looking a bit uncomfortable with how close Max was before turning and going up to his bed post. "What I'm about to show stays our secret got it? No one can know."

"Sure man." I replied, everyone nodding in agreement eyeing him in interest. Nothing could distract us as we watched Mike do the impossible so an Alien who's bigger than all of us, could stay in the non-existent space under his bed.

With a sigh and mumbling something under his breath, Mike took the mon that hang around his neck, and slowly placed into this spot on his bed post that seemed to be made for it. The mon slipped in easily, fitting in perfectly. I could see Rocky was about to say something, opening her mouth but she never got the chance as a second later, the top of Mike's bed flew up.

We all gawked in amazement as a hidden staircase leading down into the darkness was revealed. I wasn't sure what was more surprising, my friend had a hidden stair case under his bed or the fact he had a hidden stair case under his bed.

"He's Batman!" Max shouted excitedly bringing a blush to Mike face. A large smile, that he couldn't fight formed on his face, he was being compare to one of his favourite heroes, of course he'd be happy about that.

"So is that where you've been hiding your porn?" Kim asked amused, as a mischievous smile grew on her face. It only grew more as Mike's face went redder and he stumbled with words.

"I don't have porn!"

"Then why was there a naked girl on the cover of that magazine in your bag the other day?" She teased, enjoying every second as Mike blush cover his face becoming almost as red as a tomato. Me, Max and Rocky held back our own smiles and laughter as Mike tried to rebuttal. Well, we tried at least.

"Am I the only one shocked about the fact he has a trap door that leads down to the basement from the second floor?" The New Guy interrupted asking a valid question. All of whipping our heads back to Mike waiting for a response. "How has no one noticed this?"

"I don't know?" He answered nonchalantly, shrugging at the thought. It was his house, it was built for him. How is that possible?


	4. Kim

Amazing! Truly amazing! Who would have figured this would be under some guy's bed!

I have to agree with what Max said up above at some level. This was a lot like something you grabbed out a Batman comic, just more Japanese. SERIOUSLY! I felt like I was just thrown into a comic book. I had to pinch myself just to ensure that I wasn't dreaming, with the day I was having it possible that I was.

He had a large, advanced, fancy, computer dead centre in the room with other sorts of machines along the walls and weapons hanging up all over the place. He even had a display case of black spandex outfits. All he was missing was the butler, but the walking, talking robot did make up for that.

For those who are just tuning in, after sneaking an injured alien from his spaceship to Mike's house, passing many people and fixing up his tail along the way, we wound up learning one of Mike's big secrets. Beneath his bed was a secret trap door that hid a staircase going deep into the darkness which could only be opened by his Mon, necklace-thing being placed in his bed post. Weird, right? Well guess what, it gets weirder because we were on the second floor, not the first, the second! It didn't even lead to the basement, like the rest of us first thought, it actually went lower. A lot lower.

Right now we're under the city, in a room that DC comics would definitely sue if they knew existed. I got to see spaceships, aliens, and a trap door under a guy's bed that led to a secret room deep below; I don't think anything would surprise me now.

"Welcome to the dojo." Mike said, snapping me out of my thoughts. He walked out to the middle of the room, stopping once he reached the tall, shiny, silver robot that was looking back and forth at us and Mike. "And this is Yamato."

"Great, more teenagers and a horse..." The robot muttered, shaking his head as he retreated to the back of the dojo. He said more but I couldn't make it out.

"Wow dude, this has been here the whole time?" Jack asked in disbelief, eyeing every inch of the place.

"No, they just put in last week." I replied sarcastically, earning a glare from Jack and a laugh or snicker from everyone else.

"This is so cool!" Max commented, running over to the large computer, then to the weapons. "And you get to live here!" Max said turning his head around to face our alien friend. Mertil nodded nonchalantly, slowly making his way to the mats before falling down to his knees.

/For a human, this is impressive./ Mertil replied casually. He didn't seem too impressed. Should we feel insulted?

"Dude, why didn't you tell me about this place?" Jack asked, marvelling at the oversized computer, starting to press buttons.

"Yeah, how can you keep it a secret? OOHH, what does this button do?" Max asked, reaching over the console and pressing a button. The next thing anyone knew, an alarm flared to life. Everyone jumped out of their skin as the already loud alarm echoed off the dojo walls, even the no-name guy seemed to be startled by the sound.

The alarm was so loud we all had to cover our ears, which only blocked so much. I could still hear the alarm clear as day, I couldn't think or move. Even the urge to pound both boys in the head didn't give me the motivation. The only thing that went through my head was 'what now?'

"Ten seconds until self-destruct." A feminine, computerized voice said calmly over the alarm. A feeling of dread washed over my senses. Did she just say self-destruct?! My gut twirled under the pressure as I shot a glare at the two boys. I wasn't sure who set the self-destruction off but I do know one thing, if we died after this I was going to kill them both!

Both of them were currently bent over the consoles pressing button and turning knobs as quickly as possible as the countdown got to six. This might be the end…. Is it still too late to go to the party?

"MOVE!" Mike yelled as the countdown got to four. He might as well have been a blur as he raced over and shoved Max to the floor. He didn't even look to see if Max was okay as a loud thump and yelp was heard, thrusting a finger into a button on the small console.

"Thre… Self-destruct aborted. Have a nice day." Oh I definitely will, wait until I get my hands around Max and Jack. Everyone sighed in relief, all our hands falling back to our side.

"WHY IS THERE A SELF-DESTRUCT BUTTON?!" Rocky shrieked, all our attention focusing on Mike, who in turn gave a sheepish grin.

"You see, I come from a long line of…" Mike paused for a moment, scratching the back of his head, that damn sheepish grin still on his face. "Ninjas." Hey, remember how I said I won't be surprised anymore? Well…I stand corrected.

No one spoke, the dojo going into an uncomfortable silence. No one reacted in the slightest, not even Mertil, but he might just still be recovering from the alarm. Can you blame us? If you just found out your friend who seemed like, well.. he is a nerd, was a ninja, who can spy on you from a distance and kill you without a trace left behind, what would you say in response?

"That's awesome! I always wanted to be a ninja." Max broke the silence. Guessing not that. Max stared at Mike intensely with admiration, getting right into his face. This clearly creeped Mike out as he leaned back into the console behind him. For a second there, I thought we had to worry about the self-destruct button again. "Can you teach me how to be one? I want get my dessert before dinner. Are those the ninja outfits? Can I have one? Justin will be so jealous that I get to wear tights." Max asked excitedly moving over to the display case.

"You-'r a-a ninja?" Rocky asked after a while of opening and closing her mouth, as if she was trying to test the words out.

"Does that mean your dad's a ninja too?" Jack asked curiously, scepticism evident in both his face and voice.

"No." This seemed to get a small chuckle out of Mike. "He's purely a cop. He doesn't even know about the family… business, or the existence of this dojo." Mike paused again, probably letting the information sink in. It was a lot to accept in one go.

"My Grandfather built this place as the Fukanaga Clan secret base. This place hides many secrets and is where my Grandfather taught me the ways of a ninja before his… passing." Mike answered, his eyes going dark as tears started too formed. Jack placed a hand over Mike's shoulder that brought a small, sad smile to his face.

A year ago Mike had lost his Grandfather. It was late at night when he had a heart attack and died. It was a tragic death. I didn't really know him, but I did know he was important to Mike and that Mike was in more pain right then than I had in my entire life.

I never once lost a family member before, nor have I ever lost a friend either. I don't know the pain that Mike felt and I have no wish to ever learn, so I couldn't really say much. I don't really know what to do in this situation either, so I did what I did last time Mike brought up his grandfather. I walked up to him and rubbed his back, giving him a small smile.

We all waited patiently for Mike to continue. It's hard to talk about loved ones you lost.

"Me and Grandpa were the last members of our clan. And so in case we were ever attacked, or invaded, Grandpa put in the self-destruct button to protect the secrets we have hidden in these walls." Mike continued after a small breather. "No one can ever know about the dojo or what lies within." That part he said more to himself than to everyone else. "I'm trusting all you guys not to say anything."

"We promise man." Jack reassured getting a few nods and commented affirmations.

"So still, why have a secret trap door underneath your bed from the second floor to get here?" The guy asked.

"Grandpa always said the best hiding places are the ones right in front of you." Mike replied, shrugging at the thought.

/Your Grandfather was quite wise./ Mertil commented. /He sounds like a great warrior./

"He was." Mike confirmed titling his gaze, smiling fondly at the ground.

"So now that mystery is solved, when are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" Rocky asked soothingly, her eyes looking at everyone before falling on to Mertil. She was right, there still was the matter of our alien friend. Like why was he here? How did his ship get wrecked? And so on. You know, there's a lot to know. I'm just not sure Mertil is up to it yet. He's lucky he's still alive.

He did lose a lot of blood. Add the fact he was forced to move and still in agonizing pain, he didn't seem like he was up to answering all our questions. With the way he was swaying and the shutting and reopening his eyes he actually looked like he was ready to black out for a week or five.

"She has a point Mertil, umm… is it alright if we call you that?" Mike asked, getting a nod in replied.

/If you must. I can understand that my name may be hard for you./ Mertil told us.

"Mertil, can you tell us why you're here? And why you're ship was a wreck before it was blown up?" Rocky asked sweetly. "Only if you're up for it of course, we can wait for tomorrow or something."

/It is fine./ Mertil replied pausing for a good while. /It is best I start from the beginning. I am a being known as an Andalite. As you can tell, we have superior technology than you humans, and most other species in the galaxy. We had used our technology to help enlighten and aid other beings to make life easier for them and it was fine at first, but then we met them.../ Mertil once proud voice turned to a darker growl as he glared into thin air.

/They are called the Yeerks./ He spat out, hatred evident in his voice. Even the new guy growled at the creatures' name. /A new species we had just discovered. Though they had an interesting ability, they were pitiful creatures. They were small, defenceless, slow and blind and one of our own felt sorry for them. That was his downfall./ Mertil looked grim as his head lowered to the floor. /They have the ability to enter one's mind and control everything they do and say. Being that they are small, it is easy for them to get to your brain. After they were given technology to help better their lives, they attacked. They turned on and slaughtered the very person who helped them and took off with his ship. Now there's an intergalactic war involving my kind and the Yeerks. So far, they have conquered many planets and even with my kind freeing many others, the Yeerks continue to advance. They now have set their eyes on Earth. /

"WHAT?!" We all screamed in union, all of us except for the new guy leaping out of our seats or leaning position. "You're saying these Yeerks are running around Earth?" Jack exclaimed.

/Indeed./ Mertil answered nodding his head. /They have been here for years now, trying to take over your world, starting with leaders and power figures./ I fell back into a seat behind me, my mind officially blown. If all of this is true then… then anyone could be a Yeerk. The teachers, doctors, my friends… Even my parents and sister could be one!

No, NO! They can't be! I would know right? There's no way my younger sister, the one that spilled her milk today, forgot about it and slipped on her butt, could be a mad, disgusting Yeerk who plans to take over the world. It's impossible!

"Good one, you had me going there for a while." Rocky laughed clenching her stomach as she spent down. "Mind controlling aliens, like that could happen. Being on Earth for years without anyone noticing, that's impossible! These days you can't even get away with picking your nose, let alone conquering the planet one nut ball at a time."

/I understand your sceptism, but I assure you they are real and they are taking over your world./

"How are they doing it though?" Mike asked with a shaky voice, looking a bit pale. "Why hasn't anyone noticed? I mean you'd think that someone would notice if someone wasn't acting like themselves or notice a kidnapping."

/When in your mind, the Yeerks can see all of your memories. Once in your head, they'll know everything you know and know you better than anyone else. They'll know what you say and how you react to any given situation. Even when they do break character it's only a brief second, which no one will notice or place much thought into./ Mertil answered. That means though no matter how much I try I will never know who's infested. My sister could have a Yeerk in her head without me even knowing…

My stomach twisted and twirled at the thought of this, everyone I loved and was close to could be a Yeerk. Mrs Smith, my art teacher, my best friend Amanda, who I've known since I was eight, my father, who says I'm not allow to date until I'm seventy, even old man Phil who yells at passing people to keep off his lawn, could all have a Yeerk in their heads.

/As for how they capture your kind, it doesn't necessary mean kidnapping. They probably had to use that method in their time on Earth, but they have also blended into your world. They would have placed Yeerk pools in crowded, popular spots where it won't be considered strange for a huge crowd of people to be./

"So those guys at the park…"Jack thought out loud, arms crossed over his chest.

"Have Yeerks in their heads." Max answered nonchalantly, grabbing everyone's attention, surprising everyone once they realized what he had been doing. I'm not sure why I was surprised. It's is Max after all. There he was, standing over the console of the main computer pressing buttons again. The Yeerks and everything else just slipped my mind, being completely overwhelmed by anger.

"That's why he was quiet! He's trying to blow us up again!" I shouted as I stomped over to Max, hitting him in the head.

"OWww!"Max whined, rubbing where I just hit him, pouting as he turned to me. "That hurts. Besides it was Jack who nearly blew us up."

"WHAT! How did you figure that?" Jack shouted back in defence. "You could have done it!"

"Yeah, but there's a big red button right here that I saw you hit." Max replied proudly, pointing to the unprotected red button on the console. "Even I know red buttons mean self-destruct buttons."

"Max, that's not the self-destruct button." Mike replied calmly.

"Then what is it?" Max asked curiously looking from Mike to the big red button in interest.

"That's the disco button, and if Jack did hit it there would be a disco on right now."

"Disco button? Really?" Rocky asked the question that was all on our minds. Mike just shrugged at the thought as he answered.

"Grandpa had a thing for disco."

"Obviously." I replied dryly. A giant red button that starts an instant disco in a ninja's hidden base, yeah that makes perfect sense.

"And Max you were the one to start the self-destruct system." Mike commented. "You had to hit the right buttons to activate it which were in front of you, not Jack."

"Oh really? Hehehe." Max laughed sheepishly as everyone glared at him, I was even raising my fist to punch him again when Max twirled around on his heel and punched the big red button screaming. "DISCO!"

A second later, music could be heard from all directions, echoing off the dojo walls as the lights went out and were replaced with a disco ball shining light down. Max even sprang into action doing moves I think my parents called the hustle, but I could be wrong.

It looked pretty how the lights shined down into the dojo, it almost makes you wish disco didn't go out of style. And the music, well there's only four words that could be used for it which are; . !

I had the urge to shake my groove thing and get down! Hahaha! Sadly, common-sense and the fear of an alien invasion returned. Stupid mind, it ruins all the fun things in life.

"We don't have time for a disco!" The new guy replied, snapping us out of our thoughts. "If you're forgetting, there's a possible end of the world happening above us."

Turning around after sighing in a disappointment I pressed the Disco button again, the lights coming back on in an instant as the disco ball went back into the roof and the music came to a stop. I could hear Max small complaint from the mats as the rest of us went back to placing all of our undivided attention on Mertil. I still made a note about the button for later. Hey, a girl needs some fun in life!

"If they only had a few ships and are as pitiful as you said, why haven't you defeated them yet?" Jack asked.

/It had taken us a while to find out what had happened, enough time for the Yeerks to be anywhere in the galaxy. And the Yeerks are, if nothing else, resourceful. They had already taken over a planet before we got there./

"What do they look like anyway?" Max asked curiously as he joined the rest of us in the conversation. Not that he could do anything else. Me, Mike and Rocky kept a close eye on him and made sure he didn't go anywhere or press anything that could lead to our demise. "Do they look like a dragon?!"

"Max they're meant to be small and weak." Rocky replied raising an eyebrow.

"They could be small and weak dragons." Max responded pouting while crossing his arms.

/They look very similar to a creature from your world, I believe you called it a- slug/ SLUGS! Slugs are behind this? Okay now nothing will surprise me.

"You're saying Slugs, those disgusting, slimy, creatures are the ones that going to end the world?" Rocky squealed in disbelief. I don't blame her; it's hard to wrap your head around the idea that slugs of all things will conquer the mighty human race.

"Don't forget the part where they're going to take one nut at a time to do it." Jack replied, pausing in thought for a second before turning to Max. "You might be next."

"Alright, but I better have me time." Max responded. "I know! I can have control on weekends and after school and they can have control during school and chores."

"It doesn't work like that Max." I replied. "It's more of a twenty-four hours control over you."

"WHAT! That's it, I'm calling the union." Max pouted, crossing his arms against his chest.

"I doubt they have a union Max." Mike responded face palming with a small sigh.

"Then I'm going to create one and then call the union." I couldn't help the small grin that formed on my face, even with how unfitting it felt in the current situation.

"Anyway, you were saying Mertil?" Rocky interrupted getting story back on track.

/They had just conquered the planet when we arrived and before we could figure this out, they attack us. We lost many good men that day./ Mertil said, his voice going softer with the last part. /And by the time we had retreated, the Yeerks had already started up many other invasions across the galaxy. Ever since then, we have been at war with them./

/We have tried to save or rescue many other worlds from their attacks, but sadly there are just too many Yeerks./

"So you guys are like the savours of the universe?" Mike asked in awe. His eyes actually shined in admiration as he started at the injured alien.

/You could say that, I wouldn't place too much admiration into it though./

"So why are they here?" Mike asked, getting a 'duh' look from most of us in response. "Other than to enslave us, is there any other reason why they want to conquer Earth so badly? Like what's on Earth that no other planet has?"

/Humans./ Mertil replied simply. /You are, as the Yeerks say, a class five creature. A creature perfect for infestation, and are large in numbers as well as being able to breed quickly. Adding the fact you humans can't resist the Yeerks makes it even more desirable to them to have you./

/I am unsure how they had learned of your existence, they were nowhere near this planet beforehand, but since then, my Prince had ordered me and the others to create a line of defence to block out the Yeerks forces and give the Human race a chance of survival./

"So there are a lot of you guys up there?" Rocky asked cheerfully. "So we have nothing to worry about?" Everyone seemed to cheer up at that news, hope being restored in our unbelieving, yet frightened figures.

/Sadly no./ Well, there goes that hope. It felt great while it lasted. /My ship was one of the last to fall and surely the others have been destroy by now./

"So what, then you just call reinforcement and everything will be great again… right?" Mike asked hopefully.

/This could be an impossibility./ Mertil replied. /First, news will have to reach them of our failure and after that, they have to prepare other fighters to come here while ensuring the other worlds we are protecting are fine. We must also take into account how long the trip over here will be and considering how… insufficient beings you are, they may even just call it off./

WHAT! If they feel that we're not worth saving they won't even bother to even try? What type of self-appointed savours of the universe do that? Especially when they helped start this war to begin with?!

I even spoke my thoughts at that moment which Mertil only shrugged. /Like I said, you shouldn't place too much admiration when saying "savours of the universe."/

"So what now?" Jack asked, his body shaking out of rage. "We just wait and hope that your people think we're worth saving?"

An uncomfortable silence took over from there, most of us shaking out of rage or fear. Rocky had ended up falling into a seat and stared at the hands in her lap as if they were the most interesting things in the world. Even Max was unusually quiet staring up at the ceiling his features unreadable. Though this meant that he either understood the situation or something in the ceiling interested him. Which one? I don't know.

/There is perhaps another way./ Mertil replied, his eyes staring down at the floor, looking troubled, as if debating something with himself.

"What is it?" Max asked, his attention returning to the alien, his large smile returning. "Are you going to give us an alien gun, that'll be so cool!"

"Max, I really doubt he'd let a few fifteen year hold a gun, especially one more high tech than any of the ones we have on Earth." Rocky replied. "And I really doubt he'll place teenagers into a war situation."

"But he just said there's another way and I don't see another way except us joining in the fight, do you?

/He is right./ There three words I never thought I'd ever hear. Everyone else was shocked by this as well; though they could be more shocked at the fact Mertil had thought of bringing them into an intergalactic war. /The only chance Earth has at survival rests with you. Even if reinforcements do come, the world could very well have lost the war before it ever began./

"So you want us to fight a war? With aliens, who have bigger guns and could be anyone?" Rocky asked in disbelief. Mertil nodded his head. "I need to lie down." Rocky then dropped to the floor lying on the mat.

"Now, I'm not saying that I'm in, but how would you suggest we defend a world full of Yeerks?" Mike had asked, his voice failing him for a second.

/On my planet our technology is far more advance than yours. We have made hundreds of scientific achievements that you humans haven't even thought of yet./ Mertil said proudly, making me feel like he just insulted us…again! /One of our breakthroughs was morphology. The ability to change into any creature we touch with a single thought, has helped my people keep ahead in this war./

"You're going to give us the ability to turn into any animal?" Max asked. You could actually see stars forming in his eyes as they shined brightly at Mertil, which only shined brighter as he nodded his head. "WOOHOO! I finally get to be able to fly! I know, I'll turn into a Penguin!"

"But penguins can't fly." I replied, bursting his bubble.

"Yet, they can't fly yet." Max replied with a large grin. I don't really want to know what he's cooking up in there, if anything at all.

"Why don't you turn into another bird that can actually fly Max?" Jack asked.

"Because then I won't be a flying butler." Was Max's simple response.

"Guys can we focus for a minute where the alien not from Earth told us to join in a galactic war and give us superpowers!" Rocky shouted, her face as pale as a ghost, displaying a mix of fear and outrage.

"It's a given aliens aren't from Earth, so you didn't need to say alien not from Earth." Mike corrected only to be blown up by Rocky.

"THAT WASNT THE POINT!'" She screamed so loud I can't believe no one above heard it. "The point is we're all idiots for getting as far in as we did and that we're probably going to get Yeerked, or worst, end up in prison! And let me just tell you… I DON'T LOOK GOOD IN ORANGE!" She ended up grabbing Mike by the collar and shook him viscously, having a complete melt down. Can't really blame her, this was too much in one go. I think that's why me and the others had focused on Max a few times actually, just to get our minds away from the problem, even just for a moment.

/This is your choice./ Mertil encouraged. /You can accept the power and help protect your world or you can deny the power and live a normal life. The choice is yours./

"I'm in." Max shrugged without a second thought.

"Hold up Max." Jack replied stopping the brunette in his tracks. "We should really talk about this."

"Talk about what, the answer's no."

"I have to agree with Rocky." Mike agreed. "Yes, it'd be cool to be part of an intergalactic war, it'd be like being in a sci-fi movie, but come on, it's still war and this is real life. Even if we do this we'll most likely be dead in the first battle."

"But what about our planet, our family and friends? We can't do nothing when we can do something." I almost shouted. I must of struck a nerve as the others lowered their heads, guilt ridden.

"Kim, be reasonable, there's no way six kids can do anything against intergalactic alien army." Mike replied calmly.

"Exactly, besides this is more of an adult problem."

"Yeah, and how are they going to do anything when they don't know what's going on?"A real good point if I say so myself. "And if we told them, there's a chance they're a Yeerk and then we'll be Yeerkified, and even if they're not, they'll throw us into the loony bin and then we'll get Yeerkified. We're the only ones that can do anything."

"Think about the other outcome Kim. Say we did your idea, we'll either be killed in the first fight or Yeerked and then they gain the upper hand on Earth as well as the Andalites as well." Mike reasoned, his voice a little more stern then before.

"It's better off if we don't get into it." Rocky reinforced, nodding her head in agreement.

"You know what're you saying right?" I shouted this time. "Damn with everyone else and watch our own backs. I'm sorry I can't do that!"

"GOD KIM!" Rocky yelled, turning to the young man. "Jack can you do something about this."

"Jack please, you're all about backing up the little guy, don't say no."

"Kim, I want to help, I really do, but there's too much at stake here." His voice sounded so weak, so confuse. This wasn't the Jack I knew. "I… I can't, I'm sorry."

/ If you choose the latter of those two choices, no one will judge you. War is after all, a suicide mission./

"What are you going to do?" I asked, walking up to Yet To Be Identified Guy to get his whole attention. He was my only hope now. Six kids against an army that was one thing. But one person that's another.

"I am going to fight of course." I sighed in relief. It was satisfying to know I wasn't the only one willing to fight.

"Max, what about you, are you still going to… Max?" I started before gasping. I was completely stunned as I watch Max smile and laugh like a child with his palm flat on the glowing cube.

"This feels tingly." He laughed, the only sign of telling us he was alright.

"MAX!" Me, Mike, Jack and Rocky yelled in union. The only thing we seemed to be together was concerned.

"What? I already decided." Max shrugged nonchalantly, removing his hand from the cube.

"We got his vote." I said in disbelief, nodding my head, looking around seeing the same look on everybody else face.

/Have the rest of you made your decisions?/ Mertil asked with each of us nodding our heads. /Then please, those who have chosen the power, please place your hands firmly on the cube./

I walked over as Mertil raised the cube to me and New Guy. He was quick. He touched the cube only for a moment before bringing his arm back to his side. I was a little more hesitant. I reached out, eyeing the cube. My hand was merely a few inches above its flat surface.

'Kim!" I snapped my head around hearing Jack concern voice. His eyes stared wearily at me. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

At that moment, I wasn't sure. I knew I couldn't walk away from this, that I couldn't let Earth fall without a fight, not help people when I'm given the chance to. But at the same time, a part of me didn't want to do this. I wanted to run, grab everyone I know and love and hide in the woods.

I knew that would only work for a while though. Sooner or later the Yeerks would find us. There wasn't a choice regardless of if I wanted this or not. I knew what I had to do. I turned back around, shut my eyes and placed my hand flat on the cube.

Instantly, I felt something. A weird tingling sensation ran up my arm and through my entire body. It was soothing, relaxing. I didn't even notice when I started to smile. In all my life I have never felt anything like that before.

/it is done./ It took me a moment realizing what Mertil said before removing my hand away from the cube. I even ended up staring at my hands in awe afterwards. I could still feel it, the tingling sensation. /For those of you who have chosen not to proceed, the choice shall always be open. If you ever decide to join this war, you will always welcome to this power. Just make sure the next time you come back, you don't have a Yeerk in your head./ I think that was his attempt at making a joke.

At the moment though, I didn't care. I was too focused on the fact I could now turn into any animal I desire. I now had power to change the world, to save it. Me, Max and..the guy who I must get the name of, we could make a difference. We're going to show those creeps Earth isn't just going to lay down and take this. Get ready Yeerks because boom goes the dynamite! BOOOM!


	5. Kim

"What a night." I sighed, rubbing my face with a blue towel before flopping onto my bed, feeling my silk shorts and white tank top ruffle up. It's been an hour since I left Mike's place, an hour since anything crazy has happened in my life.

From space ships, aliens, hiding an alien and gaining the ability to turn into any animal I want, an hour without crazy was satisfying. A free moment to wrap my head around, well… everything.

After hearing everything Mertil had to say, it was weird walking through the front door, being greeted by my parents and sister. All thoughts of Yeerks flooded my mind, thoughts on how we wouldn't know if they're being control or not.

At first I shrugged it off, I would know if my family were being control. Right? Of course. My father was still telling me off about not calling about where I was going late at night and trying to figure out if I was with a boy. Mum was trying to distract him while asking if I met anyone new and my six-year-old sister, she was still trying to get me to play doll house.

See? There was nothing wrong with them.

Sadly, no matter how much I denied it, Mertil's words still rang true in my head. What if they weren't my family? What if they were being control? Unable to take it, I told my sister and parents I was going for a shower and then going to do my homework for the rest of the night and didn't want to be disturbed.

They seemed to buy it as I ran up the stairs. No one had bothered me since.

I raised my hand, looking at the palm that touched the cube. It still felt tingly; it could be just my imagination. The hand that gave me the ability to turn into any other animal, all on a whim. It was a power I used to dream of having as a kid. Too bad I left before learning from Mertil how to use it.

'Oh well, he'll still be in Mike's Batcave tomorrow.' I thought, that was a definite. What wasn't definite was the Yeerks. The fact they could be anyone, that didn't give me much to go on. I might as well be looking for a needle in a hay stack.

My best guess, they'll be somewhere isolated, easy to blend in yeerkification in private, but again that was too vague, especially when you have to cover an entire world, not just your home.

I sighed again in irritation. I was in way over my head and the worst part was that it's only me, Max and Rick, and the latter left before I could get his number. On my way home I tried looking for a twitter, facebook, istagram and even a myspace page for him, but no luck. It was like he was an alien, at least to any form of social media. Guess not knowing his last time doesn't help either.

The only good news was that even though my view on the world went a full one-eighty, I could still find comfort in my own bed. The warmth it supplies, the soft layers, that'll always stay the same.

"Meow." And Tigress, my brown, black striped cat. I wasn't aware she managed to get into my room before I close and locked the door. I was glad that she did though. I needed some company.

"Meow." Tigress purred as she rubbed her head against my shoulder crawling around to lay pressed against my side.

I could only smile at the small creature as I rolled onto my side so I could get a better look at her and patted her back. She purred in delight. I really envy her at times, and right now was one of those times. She was so carefree, no worries about the invasion that will most likely destroy her world. She wasn't aware of the current danger. Truly a symbolic moment of ignorance is bliss.

How I would like to be a cat, then all I'd have to worry about is being fed… be a cat? That was when it hit me, when Mertil's voice returned. /The ability to change into any creature we touch with a single thought…/

I could be a cat, I could be Tigress. Patting Tigress' back some more, I started to concentrate on her appearance in my mind. I thought of me changing into her, being her. I kept on patting her as I did this. Weirdly Tigress stopped moving, stopped purring. She was just sitting their gazing out the window, it was kind of creepy, but I continued on, thinking about turning into to her.

After a few minutes of this I simply gave up, with no results of turning into a cat. Of course it wasn't true, no technology could grant someone the power of shape shifting. That was just crazy and I bought it.

"MEOW!" Tigress hissed at me, getting onto all four, backing up as it body tense, her sharp fangs as clear as day. I was shocked stunned. Not once in the five years we had had her had she ever hissed at me, hissed at anyone before.

I quickly sat up, a response I soon regretted as Tigress hissed again. I reached out to her slowly, trying to place an hand behind her ear. Usually starching behind her ear calms her down. Not this time.

The second my hand came close she acted quickly scratching my hand away. I shot out of my bed after that cursing at her.

"What you do that for?" I asked before placing my finger in my mouth, to suck the blood so it wouldn't drip on the carpet, the last thing I needed was my mother to come in screaming her head off because of a blood stain. That was when I notice it. My teeth were a lot sharper.

Without thinking I bolted to the mirror above my desk, the only mirror I have, gasping at what stared right back. For a second, I didn't even breathe. It wasn't me, well it was, yet it wasn't. In front of me was a girl that looked like me with sharp teeth and golden cat-like eyes, my ears were even pointed.

"Great now I'm Catwoman. Will the Dc references ever stop? I'm not dating Mike." I mumbled before I caught sight of the tail that wiggled out of my pants. I tried moving it, just as second thought, letting it wrap around my leg. It felt so natural to have it, though at the moment I was a freak of nature.

It was Tigress hissing me again that brought me back to reality. A smile broke out across my face at the realization; I was turning into a cat. "MEOW!"

"I know Tigress." I told her as I made my way around the room, unlocking my bedroom door and opening a crack to allow Tigress get through the door, which she did in record time, but not enough space to see what I looked like. It would be bad if any one of my family members caught me right now.

Closing and relocking the door, I moved back over to a large space in my room. I closed my eyes, my focus returning to Tigress, of being Tigress. After a few seconds, I suddenly had an itch that quickly spread up both my arms, followed right after by my face, then my chest and straight down to my last toe.

Opening my already cat-like eyes I stared down at myself, noticing my golden brown fur and a white underbelly. I looked up at the mirror as I grew smaller. I could feel every one of my bones shrink with each passing second and yet I felt no pain. Discomfort yes, but pain, no.

I could feel my ears slowly rise to the top of my head, whiskers forming beneath my nose. I could feel my back bone stretch, my new tail quickly growing longer.

I could no longer stand on two legs, stumbling onto all fours, feeling my new paws against the smooth carpet. I could feel all my bones settle into place. I was a cat now, I was Tigress and… where did the light go?!

Where is it? WHERE IS IT?! I crawled, I scratched, nothing worked. I could feel my legs getting tangled in something but I couldn't tell what. It was too dark. I screamed out for help over and over again but no one came.

I struggled against my catcher, trying to get out. Suddenly a bright light broke through the dark abyss. I didn't know where it would lead, but I struggled towards it. I got closer and closer until finally… I burst out of the darkness, jumping higher than ever before, breaking free.

Landing on all fours, I ran as far away from my captor as I could. I only stopped once I knew I was in a safe distance and nothing was following me. I ducked into the covers of shadow, under this large shelter, creeping as close to the ground as possible.

I perked my ears up, as high up as they could go, listening to any sounds, any indication that I wasn't alone, or in any danger. I could hear a lot, like the people beyond that door. I could hear laughter, footsteps, a meow, but I couldn't hear any current danger.

Taking a leap of faith, I snuck my head out, eyeing the whole room. There wasn't anything there that seemed like a threat so cautiously, I crawled out of the shadows, staying low in case my attacker came back.

With each careful step I slowly returned to where I was attacked, my curiosity getting the better of me. Soon I was at the scene of the crime, but weirdly enough, there was nothing there. There were only books and a pile of rags, wait… those are clothes. I summed up getting a closer look. Those were my clothes! I recognized the tank top and blue shirt shorts anywhere. But why are they over there? They were on… oooh!

I'M NAKED!

After coming back to my senses, establishing who I am, I instantly morphed back. The change back to human felt just as weird as changing into a cat. Of course in the final progress of turning back to me, I was Catgirl, with patches of fur, cat ears, eyes, and teeth. After fully transforming, I quickly threw my PJ's back on, completely embarrassed. I don't care if no one saw me, that was just embarrassing. I was glad I did that alone.

That was a good learning curve though; better off knowing about the clothes now before I go do it in public, or in front of boys. There was one other lesson the cat taught me. You just don't turn into the cat, you become the cat, get her instincts along with everything else that may go with it. Something I have to keep in mind next time.

But next time, I won't be a cat. I have to think bigger. I can't just go cat, that won't help in a fight, unless the Yeerks are afraid or allergic, but what are the odds at that? No, I'd need something else, I need something faster, stronger if I was going to fight an invasion, and I knew where to go.

I didn't waste another second; I quickly stripped off my clothes and put on a black shirt and pants before fleeing out the window. I was on the second level, so I had to climb down, and once I hit the ground I jumped on my father's bike that he always sits beside the house and rode into the night.

It took me a while, but I managed to get to my destination, Empire Zoo. It was a long bike ride, which in retrospect I should have grabbed a jacket for, the cool night breeze sent chills down my spine. It really cooled down once I got home.

Once there, I hid the bike in the large bushes just outside the large gate before realization my first mistake. The gate was large and inside a giant stone arc. A normal person probability couldn't climb it and even if you could, the fence almost reached to the ceiling, you couldn't get a fit adult or teenager through the gap.

"Crap." I scowled as I examined my surroundings. There was no other way in, the rest of the fences were large and made of stone. The front door was my only hope. I looked back at the gate, looking from top to bottom, trying to find a place I could possibly squeeze into, but there wasn't, not even a child could fit through there. I almost gave up when I got an idea, though out of all the ideas me and my friends had today, it was definite one of the bottom two on my list.

I went back to the bike, stepping into the bushes and taking a quick look around to ensure no one was around and that there weren't any cameras. Once ensuring no one was around, I took off my shirt, heat instantly returning to my face as I went topless in public. It had to be done though, I can't risk panicking again and losing control.

I placed my shirt down on the bike before focusing on Tigress form again, my body shifting and changing immediately to turn into a cat. I could feel warmth return to my body as fur started to grow all over my body. I could feel my ears pointing, a tail slowly forming; I could even feel the whiskers. After three minutes I was Tigress again, sliding out of my pants and having mix feelings of being able to move freely and knowing I'm streaking at Empire Zoo. On the plus side, I had full control this time.

I pushed that thought back as I crawled out of the bushes and walking over to the gate, easily slipping through the thin cold metal bars and into the Zoo. Task one complete, so… so far so good I guess. Now for phase two.

I ran around the zoo cautiously, thankful that cat eyes were better than humans in the dark. Even with the little lighting they had around the joint, it was easy enough to make out the animals and the guards around. Luckily there weren't many of those.

I wondered aimlessly for a while, looking at all the different habitats. There were many different animals there, like lions, bears, tigers, wolves and many more, I wouldn't have a problem choosing. The only problem was… most of them were carnivores and some were still up. I considered myself as brave and courageous, but going into a lion's den is suicide and stupid in a group, being alone there's no word that could be used for such idiocy. At the very least, I should get used to acquiring more less dangerous animals and make my way up.

No, I wouldn't go after a predator or something else that will most likely attack first ask questions never. Not until I get better at acquiring animals and more people with me, maybe jack, Mike and Rocky will help me with that much. My thoughts were interrupted the second the wolves got my scent. I was just walking around the railing of their cage when suddenly they rammed the fence. I jumped in fright and hissed at the sudden attack. I instantly looked over the habitat and there they were, several wolves stalking the side of the fence with the eyes shining brightly at me, some of them trying to rip through the metal bars with their paws and teeth.

In that moment the cat instincts resurface and I ran for my life. Everything was a blur after that. All I remember is running as fast as I could and evading a couple of feet as I made my escape. I think there was a comment saying "it was just a stupid cat," but I really can't remember. It took me a while to regain control and by then I no longer could hear the wolves barking.

'That was close.' I thought as I slowed my pace and scanned the area. The first things I noticed was that I no longer near any carnivores, the second; I was running out of time. I must have been morphed for over an hour, getting close to two by now, I needed to transform. I jumped up onto the railing of a pen, noticing it having a bit of a hill in the middle with several goats, then re-examined my surroundings, noticing no human life around and more importantly no cameras. This was the perfect place to re-morph.

Jumping back down, I started to change back into my original form, to my own dismay. Being a cat and running around was one thing, now I was completely naked in a zoo, but that wasn't my main problem at the moment. Transforming back was a struggle this time, and yes transforming is naturally a struggle, but this time it took me a lot longer to transform. I was sure someone was going to come find me half morphed and that wouldn't be a conversation I want to have. How would I explain being naked and changing back from a cat?

After fully transforming I kept myself low, hugging onto my body, partly to hide and partly because of the cool air. This was definitely not how I wanted to spend a Friday night. I crept over to the mountain goat exhibit and looked at the white, furry beast.

It was quite large, with two sharp horns growing out of its head. With the thickness of its fur, I knew it could handle the cold, which would be great at this moment, and if I remembered correctly, it was very agile and still dangerous. It could easily kick me into a barn door. Best of all, there's a good chance it wouldn't attack me. It was the perfect practice morph.

Looking over the wall into the den, I was happy to find that it wasn't too high up. I could easily drop down unharmed and climb back up after I was done. Taking a quick look around, I jumped over the wall and fell with a thumb into the Mountain Goat exhibit. It didn't take too long to reach one the furry, white goats. It was laying down on the grass, minding its own business.

It stared up at me as I step closer to it. I froze for moment as the goat gave me one look over before dropping it head back down uncaringly. I breathed out the breath I didn't know I held and continued to move forward.

I slowly crept down to the beautiful goat and placed a hand on its soft fur, instantaneously feeling the tingling feeling return as I focused on the goat. Feeling my hand, the goat instantly shot up, about to go off, flinging its head to side to side. I managed to push myself off the goat and back away before one of it horns had the chance to impale me.

I took a few quick steps back, looked up to see how close the goat was before moving, but instantly stopped seeing the goat half way up, staring blankly at the hill in front of it. I watched it cautiously as it just stood there; it was acting a lot like Tigress when I had patted her.

I looked at my hands in wonder for a second before stepping closer again, each step slow and steady, ready to pounce off if it suddenly went wild again. Reaching it, I placed a hand on her again, focusing on her form as I moved my hand along her back, the tingling feeling returning to my palm.

The goat continued to stare at the hill, the only movement it made was to lay back down. I watched cautiously the whole time, and not once did it make any move to get away. Maybe my theory was right; maybe I am doing this, making animals go into a trance.

After a couple more seconds I moved away from the goat, sprinting back to the wall at full speed before kicking off the ground and, climbing up the solid cement wall with the aid of hand sized gaps, grabbed onto the edge before slowly pulling myself up.

"Well that was easy." I told myself, as I dusted myself off.

"Freeze!" I instantly jolted at the voice as a flash light was pointed at me. My first reaction was quickly using my hands to cover up, my face was warming up again, no doubting turning a very dark shade of red. Worst night ever. "What are you here and where are your clothes?" He sounded a bit uncomfortable with that last part.

"I got lost when someone stole my clothes." I lied, regretting the lie instantly and the weakness of my voice, surely I could have done better.

"Uh-huh." The man replied, not at all convinced. "Miss, please turned around and come with me." I complied with his words, hesitantly of course. I tried to say that I'm naked and didn't want to, but he wouldn't stop insisting, claiming that he needed to see my face. I wanted to scream at that moment for a mix of reasons. One of them was being caught nude, another at the guy for being a pervert. He didn't even offer his coat.

"So what now?" I asked nervously as I moved closer to him, glaring daggers at his peeping eyes.

"I'll take you back to security and call your parents." Crap. I really didn't want this phone call, can you imagine it? Hello Mr and Mrs Crawford, we have just caught your daughter stripping at the town Zoo. There wasn't a single good word about me.

'What am I going to do? I can't say why I'm really here, acquiring animal DNA so I can fight in an intergalactic war with creatures that control us! That just sounds crazy and he could be a Controller.' Even if he wasn't, I still would be placed in a mental ward and alert the Yeerks that I know about them. Nothing was in my favour at this moment.

It was that moment when the unexpected happen. Both me and security guard were baffled as we heard the racing of galloping feet. They were echoing in the night, so we couldn't exactly pinpoint it, but the guard had his flash light and was waving it everywhere trying to find it, only to find the source too late.

It wasn't until he turned around that he saw what was making a sound. A horse, no, Zebra. 'Where did a Zebra come from?' It ran out of the darkness and used its swinging head to knock the man down, making the guard hit his head against the railing and drop with a loud thump.

I quickly rushed to his side, checking to see if he was alright while the Zebra continued to fly past. Hearing breathing, the fact there was no blood oozing out and that he had a stable pulse meant he was more or less find, but he was definitely knockout.

I snapped my head to the side as I heard soft galloping noise again coming from behind me. The Zebra had returned. I took a hesitant back, grabbing the guard protectively as the white or black stripe horse drew ever closer.

It didn't seemed to aggressive now, but that didn't mean I should be any less cautious, after all it just took a guard down with one blow for no reason. It seemed to lower its head as it got closer to me nudging my side before moving his head in a gesturing way towards the gift shop.

I must of looked clueless because I definitely felt it. A Zebra, came out of nowhere, attack a guard for no reason and was now guiding me to the gift shop? Well it definitely is helping with sales. Giving in, I checked over the man one more time, grabbed his walkie-talkie and told the person on the other end that the guard was down and bolted off with the Zebra. Which just made me remember, I was being leaded by a Zebra!

Ducking into to the bushes I waited, looking in all directions, waiting for the other security guards, not paying attention to the Zebra that disappeared in the night. "Here he is!" Someone shouted back at the Goat exhibit after a few minutes of waiting. I instantly saw a bunch of flash light swarming the area heading over to the fallen man.

There were about five of them and I could hear them talking, but it sounded more like mumbling. I waited for a couple of more seconds as two of the guys rushed off in the opposite directions, possibly heading to the security room while the other three focused on the man.

"This is my chance." I whispered to myself as I snuck out of the bushes, creeping cautiously, not to alert them to my presence. Tip toeing away I constantly looked back at them, once and awhile looking everywhere else to make sure no one was around me. After getting a few feet away I kicked the ground running, going as fast as my legs allowed me.

Once making it to what I considered a safe distance, I slowed down to a stop, breathing heavily as I tried to catch my breath, cursing at the day I was having. It was definitely the worst, or at the very least, weirdest day ever. I mean Aliens, intergalactic war, morphing powers, streaking and being caught at a zoo and following a Zebra, my day couldn't possibly be any weirder.

"Hey Kim." I jolted at my name, almost screaming but managed to supress that one reaction, covering myself again with my arms as I nervous looked back. Turning back, my question was answered as my eyes almost bludged out as I stared at the careless posture and joyfully, child-like smile of a nude Max Russo.

"MAX!"


End file.
